THE  GIFT  OF 

FLORENCE  V.  V.  DICKEY 

TO  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


THE  DONALD  R.  DICKEY 

LIBRARY 
OF  VERTEBRATE  ZOOLOGY 


USEFUL  BIRDS 

AND  THEIR  PROTECTION 


CONTAINING 


BRIEF  DESCRIPTIONS  OF  THE  MORE  COMMON  AND  USEFUL  SPECIES  OF 
MASSACHUSETTS,  WITH  ACCOUNTS  OF  THEIR  FOOD  HABITS, 
AND  A  CHAPTER  ON  THE  MEANS  OF  ATTRACT- 
ING  AND  PROTECTING   BIRDS. 


EDWARD  HOWE  FORBUSH, 

ORNITHOLOGIST  TO  THE  MASSACHUSETTS  STATE  BOARD  OF 
AGRICULTURE. 


ILLUSTRATED   BY  THE  AUTHOR, 
C.  ALLAN   LYFORD,  CHESTER   A.  REED,  AND  OTHERS. 


PUBLISHED  UNDER  DIRECTION  OF 

THE  MASSACHUSETTS  STATE  BOARD  OF  AGRICULTURE, 

BY  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE. 
1908. 


APPROVED    BY 
THE    STATE    BOARD    OF    PUBLICATION. 


PRINTED  BY 

WRIGHT  &  POTTER  PRINTING  COMPANY,  STATE  PRINTERS, 
BOSTON,  MASSACHUSETTS. 


0* * 

$% 


Commonroealtlj  of  |Ha30aclju0eit5, 


Resolves  of  1905,  Chapter  51. 
A  RESOLVE   TO   PROVIDE   FOK  PREPARING  AND  PRINTING    A  SPECIAL 

11EPORT    OX   THE    IURDS    OF   THE   COMMONWEALTH. 

Resolved,  That  there  be  allowed  and  paid  out  of  the  treasury  of  the 
Commonwealth  a  sum  not  exceeding  three  thousand  dollars  for  prepar- 
ing and  printing,  under  the  direction  of  the  state  board  of  agriculture,  in 
an  edition  of  five  thousand  copies,  a  special  report  on  the  birds  of  the 
Commonwealth,  economically  considered,  to  include  the  facts  relating 
to  the  usefulness  of  birds  and  the  necessity  for  their  protection  already 
ascertained  by  the  ornithologist  of  the  state  board  of  agriculture,  to  be 
distributed  as  follows:  — Two  copies  to  each  free  public  library  in  the 
Commonwealth;  two  copies  to  each  high  school,  and  two  copies  to  such 
schools  in  towns  which  have  no  high  school  as  the  school  committee 
may  designate ;  one  copy  to  the  library  of  congress,  and  one  copy  to 
each  state  or  territorial  library  in  the  United  States ;  twenty-five  copies 
to  the  state  library ;  five  copies  to  the  governor ;  two  copies  to  the  lieu- 
tenant governor  and  each  member  of  the  council ;  two  copies  to  the 
secretary  of  the  Commonwealth ;  two  copies  to  the  treasurer  and  re- 
ceiver general :  two  copies  to  the  auditor  of  accounts  ;  two  copies  to  the 
attorney-general,  and  one  copy  to  each  member  of  the  present  general 
court  applying  for  the  same ;  the  remainder  to  be  distributed  under  the 
direction  of  the  state  board  of  agriculture.  [Approved  April  14,  1.905. 


505192 


Commonrotaillj  af  lHa00adju0eft0. 


Resolves  of  1907,  Chapter  77. 

RESOLVE   TO   PROVIDE   FOR   PRINTING   ADDITIONAL   COPIES    OF   THE 

REPORT  OX  THE  BIRDS  OF  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 
Resolved,  That  there  be  allowed  and  paid  out  of  the  treasury  of  the 
Commonwealth,  a  sum  not  exceeding  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  for 
printing  five  thousand  additional  copies  of  the  report  on  the  birds  of 
the  Commonwealth.  From  the  copies  so  printed  each  member  and 
each  elective  officer  of  the  general  court  for  the  year  nineteen  hundred 
and  seven  shall  receive  ten  copies,  and  each  assistant  clerk  of  the 
general  court,  the  doorkeepers,  messengers  and  pages  shall  receive 
one  copy.  Copies  may  be  sold  by  the  secretary  of  the  state  board  of 
agriculture  at  a  price  not  less  than  the  cost  thereof,  and  additional 
copies  may  be  printed  for  sale  at  the  discretion  of  the  secretary,  the 
expense  thereof  to  be  paid  from  the  receipts  from  such  sales.  Any 
amount  received  from  sales  shall  be  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the 
Commonwealth.  \Approved  May  8,  1907 . 


PREFACE. 


In  preparing  and  submitting  this  report  the  fact  has  been 
kept  in  mind  that  the  material  prosperity  of  the  state  and 
nation  depends  very  largely  on  agricultural  pursuits.  An 
attempt  has  been  made,  therefore,  to  make  the  volume  ser- 
viceable to  both  agriculturist  and  horticulturist.  The  author 
of  this  report  believes,  with  Townend  Glover,  that  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  useful  birds  of  the  farm  is  as  important 
to  the  farmer  as  is  a  knowledge  of  the  insect  pests  which 
attack  his  crops.  Those  who  open  this  volume  expecting 
to  find  within  its  covers  a  guide  to  the  birds,  a  manual 
for  the  collector,  or  a  systematic  account  of  the  birds  of 
Massachusetts,  will  be  disappointed,  for  its  scope  is  chiefly 
economic. 

The  plan  of  the  report  as  outlined  before  the  legislative 
committees  has  been  followed  to  the  letter. 

In  undertaking  the  work,  the  author  has  attempted  to 
counteract  in  some  measure  the  effects  of  some  phases  of 
modern  civilization  and  intensive  farming  which  operate  to 
destroy  or  drive  out  the  birds  ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  book 
will  be  of  some  service  as  a  source  of  useful  information  for 
the  bird  protectionist.  As  no  report  prepared  with  such  a 
purpose  can  exert  much  influence  unless  widely  read,  it  has 
been  written  in  a  popular  style,  with  little  scientific  verbiage. 

A  part  of  the  material  was  prepared  between  the  years 
1891  and  1900,  during  the  author's  experience  as  field  di- 
rector for  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  in  the  work  of 
destroying  the  gipsy  moth.  Chapters  I.  and  II.  are  partly 
composed  of  revised  and  rewritten  portions  of  papers  pub- 
lished during  that  time.  Chapter  III.  is  based  largely  on 
observations  made  during  that  period  by  two  faithful,  capable 
workers,  —  Messrs.  C.  E.  Bailey  and  F.  H.  Mosher.  Owing 


PREFACE. 


to  Mr.  Bailey's  untimely  death  and  Mr.  Mosher's  occupation 
in  a  new  field,  it  was  deemed  best  to  publish  some  of  the 
field  notes  of  these  observers  with  little  editing,  in  order  to 
avoid  any  possible  distortion  of  their  evidence. 

In  presenting  in  Chapter  I.  some  of  the  evidence,  given  by 
the  earlier  writers,  regarding  the  utility  of  birds  as  protectors 
of  crops  and  trees,  it  has  been  necessary  to  use  such  material 
as  was  obtainable.  No  carefully  guarded  experiments  or 
observations  in  this  direction  were  made  until  the  latter  part 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  it  is  only  recently  that  scien- 
tific investigators  have  been  employed  in  this  little-known 
field.  It  is  not  an  alluring  task  for  the  scientist,  in  which 
his  work  brings  him  neither  material  reward,  credit,  nor 
honor. 

That  portion  of  the  final  chapter  which  treats  of  the  means 
of  attracting  birds  is  drawn  mainly  from  six  years'  experience 
at  the  author's  home  at  Wareham,  Mass.  The  first  three 
chapters  were  mainly  written  there.  Most  authors  quoted 
or  cited  in  these  chapters  are  given  full  credit. 

The  remaining  chapters,  which  are  largely  based  on  the 
author's  own  investigations  and  observations,  were  written 
and  the  proof  was  read  while  he  was  away  from  home,  in  the 
woods,  or  travelling  from  place  to  place,  often  at  a  distance 
from  any  ornithological  library.  Under  such  circumstances 
it  was  impossible  to  quote  verbatim,  but  in  most  cases  authors 
are  named  when  facts  have  been  gathered  from  their  writings. 

The  averages  of  the  components  of  the  food  of  each  species 
are  taken  mainly  from  the  publications  of  the  Bureau  of  Bio- 
logical Survey  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, except  where  credit  is  otherwise  given. 

Thanks  are  due  to  Dr.  L.  O.  Howard,  who  has  read 
critically  that  part  of  the  introduction  devoted  to  insects, 
and  the  author  is  greatly  indebted  to  him  for  information  ; 
also,  more  than  he  can  tell,  to  Mr.  William  Brewster  for 
counsel  and  suggestions  ;  and  especially  to  Mr.  J.  A.  Farley, 
who  read  a  large  part  of  the  manuscript. 

The  limited  time  at  the  author's  disposal  has  prevented 
such  painstaking  revision  and  abridgment  of  the  manuscript 


PREFACE.  vii 


as  would  be  required  to  attain  the  highest  literary  excellence  ; 
but  both  manuscript  and  proof  were  critically  read  by  Mrs. 
A.  Drew,  whose  work  has  added  much  to  the  appearance  of 
the  volume,  and  whose  suggestions  have  been  very  valuable. 

Mr.  F.  H.  Fowler  has  placed  the  author  under  great  obli- 
gations by  doing  a  large  amount  of  clerical  work,  and  giv- 
ing much  assistance  in  his  official  position  as  first  clerk  and 
librarian  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture. 

The  scientific  ornithological  nomenclature  is  that  of  the 
American  Ornithologists  Union.  The  grouping  of  birds 
according  to  their  habitats  (as  birds  of  woodland,  etc.)  is 
based  more  on  their  food  habits  than  on  their  choice  of 
nesting  sites.  This  classification  is  of  necessity  arbitrary, 
and  not  always  consistent,  for  it  is  sometimes  influenced  by 
other  considerations,  such  as  are  evident  in  the  inclusion  of 
the  Whip-poor-will  among  birds  of  the  air. 

The  nomenclature  of  plants  is  mainly  that  used  by  Britton 
and  Brown  in  their  Flora  of  the  Northern  United  States, 
Canada,  and  the  British  Possessions,  except  in  some  cases 
where  Dr.  Judd  or  other  authors  are  quoted.  That  of  insects 
has  been  derived  from  various  sources  at  different  times, 
and  for  this  reason  some  of  the  scientific  names  are  not  the 
latest. 

In  the  original  plan  of  the  report  no  descriptions  of  species 
were  included ;  but  the  suggestion  was  made  by  Mr.  J.  A. 
Farley  that  it  would  be  useless  to  descant  to  a  man  on  the 
usefulness  of  the  Chickadee  if  he  did  not  know  the  bird. 
The  brief,  un technical  descriptions  of  bird,  nest,  eggs,  and 
bird  notes,  and  the  illustrations  of  the  species,  are  all  in- 
tended as  helps  to  identification.  The  descriptions  of  birds 
are  calculated  merely  to  call  attention  to  the  principal  colors 
and  marks  that  serve  to  identify  birds  afield.  Brief  descrip- 
tions of  haunts,  habits,  and  manners  are  also  given,  as  guides 
to  identity. 

A  species  that  is  found  throughout  the  year  within  the 
limits  of  the  State  is  denominated  a  resident.  Xo  attempts 
have  been  made  to  give  fixed  dates  of  arrival  and  departure, 
for  these  vary  somewhat  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  as 


PREFACE. 


well  as  in  different  seasons ;  but  the  months  in  which  each 
species  is  most  commonly  seen  are  given.  For  example, 
the  season  for  the  Tree  Swallow  is  given  as  April  to  Septem- 
ber ;  but  no  mention  is  made  of  the  fact  that  it  sometimes 
appears  in  small  numbers  in  March ;  neither  is  it  stated  that 
this  bird  has  been  seen  in  flocks  in  southeastern  Massachu- 
setts in  late  October  and  even  in  November,  for  such  occur- 
rences are  unusual.  It  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  most 
of  the  insect-eating  birds  that  arrive  in  March  or  April  come 
in  the  latter  part  of  those  months,  while  most  of  those  that 
depart  for  the  south  in  September  or  October  leave  in  the 
earlier  weeks  of  their  respective  months. 

Our  attempts  to  represent  the  songs  of  birds  in  printed 
syllables  are  not  often  of  much  assistance  to  the  beginner, 
for  they  lack  the  variation,  quality,  and  expression  of  bird 
songs,  and  birds  do  not  sing  in  syllables.  Also,  the  imagi- 
nation of  the  writer  often  greatly  affects  these  syllabic  rendi- 
tions, as  may  be  seen  by  comparing  the  various  sentences 
attributed  by  different  people  to  the  White- throated  Sparrow. 
Nevertheless,  some  such  imitations  of  bird  songs  which  are 
now  accepted  and  are  quite  generally  considered  helpful  are 
given  in  this  report;  in  other  cases  the  author's  own  inter- 
pretations of  well-marked  bird  notes  are  given. 

The  line  cuts  of  birds,  nesting  boxes,  appliances,  etc.,  are 
mainly  reproductions  of  the  author's  pen  and  ink  sketches 
and  drawings.  The  attitudes  have  been  caught  by  sketch- 
ing the  living  birds  afield ;  but  as  most  of  the  drawings  were 
necessarily  made  in  winter,  the  measurements  and  the  details 
of  markings  were  taken  mainly  from  bird  skins.  While  this 
method  does  not  give  so  good  results  as  does  the  use  of  the 
dead  bird,  it  obviates  the  necessity  of  killing1  birds  for  the  pur- 
pose. The  sketches  for  Figs.  19,  22,  23,  and  25  were  sug- 
gested by  half-tone  plates  in  American  Ornithology.  Figs. 
1,  27,  53,  71,  73,  71),  109,  113-117,  142,  and  143  were  made 
from  pen  drawings  by  Lewis  E.  Forbush.  The  wood-cuts 
of  insects  were  taken  chiefly  from  Harris's  Insects  Injurious 
to  Vegetation,  Flint's  Manual  of  Agriculture,  and  various 
papers  published  by  Dr.  A.  S.  Packard  while  serving  as  ento- 
mologist to  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture. 


PREFACE.  IX 


Mr.  C.  Allan  Lyford  has  given  valuable  assistance  in  taking 
photographs  illustrating  bird  feeding,  nesting  boxes,  etc. 
The  author  is  also  greatly  indebted  to  Messrs.  C.  A.  and 
C.  K.  Reed  for  the  use  of  half-tone  plates  from  American 
Ornithology  ;  to  Mr.  Frank  M.  Chapman,  the  Massachusetts 
Commission  on  Fisheries  and  Game,  Mr.  A.  C.  Dike,  and 
others,  to  whom  credit  is  given  in  the  text  or  captions,  for 
the  use  of  photographs,  half-tone  plates,  or  cuts  ;  and  to 
Messrs.  William  Brewster  and  Ralph  Holman  for  the  use  of 
bird  skins.  Plates  VI.  and  VII.  are  from  E.  A.  Samuels. 

The  credit  for  the  publication  of  this  volume  rightly  be- 
longs to  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  which,  through  its 
secretary,  introduced  and  advocated  the  resolve  providing 
for  preparing  and  printing ;  to  the  Massachusetts  Audubon 
Society,  which  supported  the  resolve  before  the  Legislature  ; 
to  the  various  associations,  officials,  and  friends  who  upheld 
the  resolve ;  and  to  those  members  of  the  House  and  Senate 
who  were  instrumental  in  securing  the  appropriation  which 
made  possible  the  production  of  the  report.  For  its  many 
shortcomings  the  author  alone  is  responsible. 


CONTENTS, 


INTRODUCTORY.  —  THE  UTILITY  OF  BIRDS  IN  NATURE,      ....  1 

CHAPTER  I.  —  THE  VALUE  OF  BIRDS  TO  MAN,    .        .         .                 .         ;  23 

Primitive  Man's  Relations  to  Nature, 23 

Changed  Relations  produced  by  Agriculture,  ......  24 

Man  at  War  with  Nature  in  the  New  World, .25 

The  Increase  of  Insect  Pests, 27 

The  Number  of  Insects, 28 

The  Reproductive  Capacity  of  Insects, 28 

The  Voracity  of  Insects, 30 

The  Great  Loss  to  American  Agriculture  by  Insect  Ravages,  .         .         .31 

Losses  by  Insect  Ravages  in  Massachusetts 36 

The  Capacity  of  Birds  for  destroying  Pests 40 

The  Digestion  of  Birds, 40 

The  Growth  of  Young  Birds, 42 

The  Amount  of  Food  required  by  Young  Birds,         ....  44 

The  Time  required  for  Assimilation  of  Food, 49 

The  Number  of  Insects  eaten  by  Young  Birds  in  the  Nest,         .         .  51 

The  Amount  of  Food  eaten  by  Adult  Birds 57 

Birds  save  Trees  and  Crops  from  Destruction, 63 

The  Increase  of  Injurious  Insects  following  the  Destruction  of  Birds,     .  72 

The  Destruction  of  Injurious  Mammals  by  Birds, 76 

The  Value  of  Water-birds  and  Shore  Birds, 80 

The  Commercial  Value  of  Birds, 81 

The  ^Esthetic,  Sentimental,  and  Educational  Value  of  Birds,          .         .  85 

CHAPTER  II. —  THE  UTILITY  OF  BIRDS  IN  WOODLANDS,   ....  90 

The  Relations  of  the  Bird  to  the  Tree, 91 

The  Forest  Planters, 92 

The  Influence  exerted  by  Birds  and  Squirrels  on  the  Succession  of 

Forest  Trees,         ....'. 96 

The  Tree  Pruners, 99 

The  Guardians  of  the  Trees, 100 

CHAPTER    III.  —  BIRDS  AS  DESTROYERS  OF  HAIRY  CATERPILLARS  AND 

PLANT  LICE, Ill 

CHAPTER  IV.  —  THE  ECONOMIC  SERVICE  OF  BIRDS  IN  THE  ORCHARD,     .  149 

CHAPTER  V.  —  SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND,       .        .         .  155 

Woodland  Thrushes 155 

Kinglets, 160 

Nuthatches  and  Tits ...  163 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V.  —  SONU  BIKDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND  —  Con.  PAQE 

Creepers, 177 

Thrashers  and  Mockingbirds, 178 

Warblers, 185 

Vireos 203 

Waxwings, 209 

Tanagers, 211 

Finches,  Grosbeaks,  and  Towhees 215 

Blackbirds,  Grackles,  Orioles,  etc., 224 

CHAPTER  VI.  —  SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND,  .  .  229 

Flycatchers, 229 

Hummingbirds,  . 240 

Woodpeckers 245 

Cuckoos,  Kingfishers,  etc., 2(i2 

Grouse,  Partridges,  etc., 266 

CHAPTER  VII.  —  THE  UTILITY  OF  BIRDS  IN  FIELD  AND  GARDEN,    .         .  275 

CHAPTER  VIII.  —  BIRDS  OF  FIELD  AND  GARDEN, 282 

Thrushes  and  their  Allies, 282 

Wrens " 292 

Sparrows, 294 

Blackbirds,  Grackles,  etc 312 

Pigeons  and  Doves 323 

Grouse,  Partridges,  etc. 325 

Pheasants, 332 

Snipe,  Sandpipers,  Woodcock,  etc., 334 

CHAPTER  IX.  —  BIRDS  OF  THE  AIR,  ........  339 

Swifts, 340 

Nighthawks,  Whip-poor-wills,  etc* 341 

Swallows, 343 

CHAPTER  X. —  BIRDS  OF  MARSH  AND  WATERSIDE, 349 

Perching  Birds 349 

Rails 350 

Herons, 351 

Water-fowl, 353 

CHAPTER  XI.  —  CHECKS  UPON  THE  INCREASE  OF  USEFUL  BIRDS,  .  .  354 

The  Destruction  of  Birds  by  Man, 35(5 

The  Natural  Enemies  of  Birds, 361 

Introduced  Four-footed  Enemies, 302 

Cats, 362 

Native  Four-footed  Enemies,    .........  364 

Squirrels,  ............  364 

Rats  and  Mice, 366 

Feathered  Enemies,  .  .  .  ,  .  .  .  .  .  .  366 

Hawks 3(5(; 

Owls, 367 

Crows  and  Jays, 368 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 


CHAPTER  XI.  —  CHECKS  UPON  THE  INCREASE  OF  USEFUL  BIRDS  —  Con.  PAO« 
Feathered  Enemies —  Con. 

The  House  Sparrow,  ..........  370 

Shrikes, 370 

Other  Bird  Enemies, 371 

Reptilian  Enemies, 371 

Fish, 371 

CHAPTER  XII.  —  THE  PROTECTION  OF  BIRDS, 372 

Methods  of  attracting  Birds, 373 

Feeding  and  Assembling  the  Winter  Birds 377 

Attracting  the  Summer  Birds, 384 

Providing  Nesting  Places  about  Buildings, 386 

Bird  Houses  and  Nesting  Boxes,         .......  388 

Furnishing  Nesting  Material, 398 

Feeding  the  Summer  Birds, 399 

Attracting  Water-fowl, 402 

The  Protection  of  Birds  against  their  Natural  Enemies,  .         .         .         .403 

The  Protection  of  Farm  Products  from  Birds, 410 

To  protect  Grain  from  Crows  and  Other  Birds, 411 

To  protect  Small  Fruits, 412 

To  protect  Chickens  from  Hawks  and  Crows, 412 

General  Protective  Measures, 413 

Game  Protection 414 

Measures  and  Legislation  necessary  for  the  Protection  of  Game  and 

Birds 415 

Artificial  Propagation  of  Game  Birds, 417 

The  Movement  for  Bird  Protection, 418 

Papers  on  Ornithology,  published  by  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of 

Agriculture, 421 

INDEX, 423 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PACK 

FIGURE  1.  —  The  Archaeopteryx, 5 

FIGURE  2.  —  Ground  Beetle, 9 

FIGURE  3.  —  Cutworm, 11 

FIGURE  4.  —  Xoctuid  Moth, 11 

FIGURE  5.  —  Fly  and  its  Larva, 14 

FIGURE  6.  —  Chestnut  Beetle  or  Weevil,       . 14 

FIGURE  7.  —  Caterpillars,  the  Larvae  of  Butterflies, 14 

FIGURE  8.  —  Pupae  or  Chrysalids, 15 

FIGURE  9.  —  Predaceous  Beetle,  the  Lion  Beetle  or  Caterpillar  Hunter,       .  18 
FIGURE  10.  —  Predaceous  Beetle,  a  Tiger  among  Insects,       .        .         .        .18 

FIGURE  11.  —  Hymenopterous  Parasite, 18 

FIGURE  12.  —  Host  Caterpillar  with  Cocoons  of  a  Parasite  upon  its  Back,      .  19 

FIGURE  13.  — Tiger  Beetle, 19 

FIGURE  14. —Chinch  Bug, 27 

FIGURE  15.  — Colorado  Potato  Beetle, 29 

FIGURE  1(5.  — Hessian  Fly, 33 

FIGURE  17.  —  Alimentary  Canal  of  Bluehird, 41 

FIGURE  18.— Young  Cedar  Bird  on  its  First  Day, 42 

FIGURE  19.  —  Young  Cedar  Birds  less  than  Three  Weeks  old,       .         .         .  43 

FIGURE  20.  —  Young  Grouse, 43 

FIGURE  21.— Young  Woodcock, 44 

FIGURE  22.  —  Young  Robins,           . 44 

FIGURE  23.  —  Young  Crows, 49 

FIGURE  24.  —  Passenger  Pigeon  feeding  by  Regurgitation,     .     '    .        .        .52 

FIGURE  25.  —  Chipping  Sparrow  feeding  Young, 55 

FIGURE  26.  —  Yellow-throat  catching  Birch  Aphids, 63 

FIGURE  27.  — Western  Cricket, 65 

FIGURE  28. —Gulls  saving  Crops  by  killing  Crickets, 66 

FIGURE  29.  —  Warblers  destroying  Plant  Lice, 71 

FIGURE  30. —The  Winged  Seed  of  White  Pine, 92 

FIGURE  31.  — A  Forest  Planter,      .        . 94 

FIGURE  32.— Ruffed  Grouse,  "budding,"      . 99 

FIGURE  33.  —  The  Diligent  Titmouse 101 

FIGURE  34.— Winter  Tree  Guards, 104 

FIGURE  35.  —  Destructive  Bark  Beetle, 107 

FIGURE  36.  —  Wood  pecker  hunting  Borers 107 

FIGURE  37.  — Larva  of  the  Cecropia  Moth, 110 


XVI  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


FIGURE  38.  —  Woolly  Bear  Caterpillar, 120 

FIGURE  39.  — Yellow  Bear  Caterpillar, 120 

FIGURE  40.  —  Caterpillar  of  the  White-marked  Tussock  Moth,      .         .         .121 

FIGURE  41.— Web  of  the  Brown-tail  Moth  Caterpillar 130 

FIGURE  42.  — Nashville  Warbler, 133 

FIGURE  43.  — Caterpillar  of  the  Brown-tail  Moth, 133 

FIGURE  44.  —  Warblers  feeding  on  Young  Caterpillars  of  the  Gipsy  Moth,  .    135 

FIGURE  45.  — Egg  Cluster  of  the  Gipsy  Moth, 148 

FIGURE  46.  — Wilson's  Thrush, 157 

FIGURE  47.  — Wood  Thrush, 158 

FIGURE  48.  —  Golden-crowned  Kinglet, 101 

FIGURE  49.— Chickadee, 164 

FIGURE  50.  —  Eggs  of  the  Tent  Caterpillar  Moth, 167 

FIGURE  51.— Codling  Moth,  Parent  of  the  Apple  Worm,      .         .         .         .168 

FIGURE  52.  —  Fall  Cankerworm  Moth 169 

FIGURE  53.  —  Apple  Twig  with  Eggs  of  the  Cankerworm  Moth,  .         .         .    169 

FIGURE  54.  —  AVhite-breasted  Nuthatch, 172 

FIGURE  55.  —  Nuthatches, 173 

FIGURE  5(5.  —  Wood-boring  Beetle, 175 

FIGURE  57.  —  Red-breasted  Nuthatch, 176 

FIGURE  58.  —  Brown  Creeper,         .........    177 

FIGURE  59.  —  Brown  Thrasher, 180 

FIGURE  60.  —  Catbird,     . 182 

FIGURE  61.— Northern  Yellow-throat, 187 

FIGURE  62.  — Oven-bird  and  Nest, 189 

FIGURE  63.  —  Black  and  White  Warbler, 191 

FIGURE  64.  —  Chestnut-sided  Warbler, 193 

FIGURE  65.  —  Yellow  Warbler, 195 

FIGURE  66.  —  American  Redstart, 197 

FIGURE  67.  —  Black -throated  Green  Warbler liKi 

FIGURE  68.  —  Pine  Warbler, 201 

FIGURE  69.— Myrtle  Warbler 202 

FIGURE  70.—  Woolly  Apple  Tree  Aphis, 202 

FIGURE  71.  — Red-eyed  Vireo, 204 

FIGURE  72.  —  Warbling  Vireo, 206 

FIGURE  73.  — Yellow-throated  Vireo, 208 

FIGURE  74.  —  Cedar  Bird, 209 

FIGURE  75.  —  Passing  the  Cherry, 210 

FIGURE  76.  —  Good  Work  in  the  Orchard, 211 

FIGURE  77.  —  Scarlet  Tanagers  and  Gipsy  Moth  Caterpillars,        .         .         .212 

FIGURE  78.  — Rose-breasted  Grosbeak,  Male, 216 

FIGURE  79.  — Rose-breasted  Grosbeak,  Female 217 

FIGURE  80.  —  Towhee, 219 

FIGURE  81.  — Purple  Finch, 221 

FIGURE  82.  — American  Goldfinch,         .  ...    222 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  XV11 


PACE 

FIGURE  83.  —  Baltimore  Oriole, 225 

FIGURE  84.  —  Pea  Weevil, 226 

FIGURE  85. — Tent  Caterpillars,  Eggs,  and  Cocoon 220 

FIGURE  86.  — Click  Beetle, 227 

FIGURE  87.  —  Cucumber  Beetle  and  Curculios, 227 

FIGURE  88.  — Gipsy  Moth,  Male, 230 

FIGURE  89.  —  Cankerworm, 231 

FIGURE  90.  —  Wood  Pewee, 232 

FIGURE  91.— Tortricid  Moth, 232 

FIGURE  92.  — Tussock  Moth, 232 

FIGURE  93.  — Phoebe, 233 

FIGURE  94.  —  Moth  of  Spring  Cankerworm, 234 

FIGURE  95.  —  Wood-boring  Click  Beetle, 234 

FIGURE  96.  — Brown-tail  Moth, .234 

FIGURE  97.  — Kingbird, 23(5 

FIGURE  98.  —  Cetonia  Beetle, 238 

FIGURE  99.  —  May  Beetle, .        .  238 

FIGURE  100.  —  Hummingbirds  about  Two  Weeks  old, 242 

FIGURE  101. — Hummingbird  feeding  Young, 243 

FIGURE  102.  —  Young  Hummingbirds  nearly  fledged, 244 

FIGURE  103.  —  Skull  and  Tongue  of  Woodpecker, 246 

FIGURE  104.  —  Spearlike  Tongue-tip  of  Downy  Woodpecker,        .         .         .  246 

FIGURE  105.  —  Pine  Borer, 247 

FIGURE  106.  —  Pales  Weevil, 248 

FIGURE  107.  —  Cocoon  of  Codling  Moth  pierced  by  Woodpecker,  .        .         .251 

FIGURE  108.  —  Apple  Tree  Borer, 251 

FIGURE  109.  — Section  of  Young  Tree  saved  by  Downy  Woodpecker,  .         .  253 

FIGURE  110.  — Downy  Woodpecker  and  his  Work, 253 

FIGURE  111.  —  Bark  pierced  by  Downy  Woodpecker,    .'                .         .         .  254 

FIGURE  112.  — The  Same,  showing  the  Channels  made  by  Bark  Beetles,      .  254 

FIGURE  113.  — Pine  Top  killed  by  Pine  Weevil, 255 

FIGURE  114.  — Tree  ruined  for  Timber  by  Pine  Weevil,        .         .         .        .255 

FIGURE  115.  —  Section  of  Red  Maple  tapped  for  Sap, 257 

FIGURE  116.  —  A  Similar  Section, 257 

FIGURE  117.  —  Hairy  Woodpecker, 258 

FIGURE  118.  — Flicker, 261 

FIGURE  119.  —  Black-billed  Cuckoo 264 

FIGURE  120.  — Caterpillar  of  the  lo  Moth, 264 

FIGURE  121.  —  Spiny  Elm  Caterpillar, 264 

FIGURE  122.  —  Fall  Web  Worm, 265 

FIGURE  123.  —  Red-humped  Caterpillar, 272 

FIGURE  124.  — Tree  Hoppers, 273 

FIGURE  125.  — American  Robin 282 

FIGURE  126.  — White  Grub, 288 

FIGURE  127. —  Bluebird,                  291 


XVlll  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

FIGURE  128.  — The  Bluebird's  Bread 292 

FIGURE  129.  — Indigo  Bunting,  Male, 298 

FIGURE  130.  — Indigo  Bunting,  Female, 298 

FIGURE  131.  —  Song  Sparrow 299 

FIGURE  132.  — Slate-colored  Junco, 301 

FIGURE  133.  — Field  Sparrow, 302 

FIGURE  134.  —  Chipping  Sparrow 303 

FIGURE  135.  — Moth  of  the  Tent  Caterpillar 304 

FIGURE  136.  — Chipping  Sparrows  hunting  Beet  Worms 304 

FIGURE  137.  — Tree  Sparrow, 306 

FIGURE  138.  — White-throated  Sparrow, 307 

FIGURE  139.  —  Vesper  Sparrow 311 

FIGURE  140.  —  Crow  Blackbird, 314 

FIGURE  141.— Meadowlark, 317 

FIGURE  142.  —  Red-winged  Blackbird,  Male, 319 

FIGURE  143. — Red-winged  Blackbird,  Female, 320 

FIGURE  144.  —  Bobolink,  Male,  and  Army  Worm, 322 

FIGURE  145.  —  Bobolink,  Female, 323 

FIGURE  146.  —  Bob-white 325 

FIGURE  147.  — The  Morning  Call,  .         . 327 

FIGURE  148.— Ring-necked  Pheasant, 332 

FIGURE  149.  — Purple  Martin,  Male, 347 

FIGURE  150.  —  Purple  Martin,  Female, 348 

FIGURE  151.  —  Salt-marsh  Caterpillar, 349 

FIGURE  152. — Army  Worm, 349 

FIGURE  153.  —  Swamp  Sparrow, 350 

FIGURE  154. —Italian  Sportsman  and  his  Decoy  Owl, 359 

FIGURE  155.  —  Blue  Jay, 369 

FIGURE  156.— Northern  Shrike, 370 

FIGURE  157.  —  Seed  Catkins  of  Gray  Birch, 374 

FIGURE  158.  —  Fruit  of  Virginia  Juniper  or  Red  Cedar,         ....  377 

FIGURE  159.  —  Downy  Woodpecker  feeding  on  Suet, 380 

FIGURE  160.  —  The  Birds' Christmas  Tree, 381 

FIGURE  161.  —  The  Birds'  Tepee 382 

FIGURE  162.  — Design  for  a  Sparrow-proof  Shelf, 383 

FIGURE  163.  — Mr.  Chapman's  Bird  Bath, 386 

FIGURE  164.  —  Phoebe's  Nest  in  Box, 388 

FIGURE  165.  —  Sparrow-proof  Box, 389 

FIGURE  166.  — Birch-bark  Nesting  Box  for  Chickadees,        .         .         .         .391 

FIGURE  167.  —  Shingle  Box  for  Bluebirds 392 

FIGURE  168.— Chickadees  feeding  Young  in  Observation  Box,     .         .         .395 

FIGURE  169.  —A  Martin  Box, 396 

FIGURE  170.  — A  Martin  Barrel, 397 

FIGURE  171.  —  Zinc  Bands  to  prevent  Cats  or  Squirrels  from  climbing  Trees 

or  Poles t  410 


LIST 'OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


XIX 


WOOD  DUCK  (Colored  Plate) , Frontispiece 

PLATE  I.  —  The  American  Silkworm  Moth,  ....  faces  page  31 
PLATE  II.  —  The  Destructiveness  of  the  Gipsy  Moth,  between  pages  38  and  39 
PLATE  III.  — Expensive  Work  of  destroying  the  Eggs  of  the 

Gipsy  Moth  in  Woodland  Parks,  ....  between  pages  38  and  39 

PLATE  IV.  —  Red-eyed  Vireo  feeding  Young,  ....  faces  page  51 

PLATE  V.  —  Chickadee,  with  Insects  in  its  Beak,  .  .  .  faces  page  54 

PLATE  VI.  —  Field  or  Meadow  Mouse,  ' faces  page  76 

PLATE  VII.  —  White-footed  or  Deer  Mouse,  ....  faces  page  76 

PLATE  VIII. — A  Useful  Mouse-eating  Owl,  ....  faces  page  78 

PLATE  IX.  —  Regurgitated  Owl  Pellets,  ....  .  .  faces  page  80 

PLATE  X.  — The  Same  Pellets,  dissected, faces  page  80 

PLATE  XI. — Albatrosses  on  Laysan  Island,  H.  I.,  .  .  faces  page  82 

PLATE  XII.  — The  Cecropia  Moth, faces  page  109 

PLATE  XIII.  — Web  of  Tent  Caterpillar,  which  had  been 

attacked  by  Birds, faces  page  118 

PLATE  XIV.  —  Various  Stages  of  the  Brown-tail  Moth,  .  .  faces  page  137 

PLATE  XV.  —  Various  Stages  of  the  Gipsy  Moth,  .  .  .  faces  page  142 

PLATE  XVI.  —  General  View  of  Georgetown  Woodland,  .  .  faces  page  144 
PLATE  XVII.  — Pines,  Oaks,  and  Other  Trees,  stripped  by  the 

Omnivorous  Caterpillars  of  the  Gipsy  Moth,  .  .  .  faces  page  144 

PLATE  XVIII.— Luna  Moth, faces  page  214 

PLATE  XIX.  — Least  Flycatcher  on  Nest, faces  page  229 

PLATE  XX.  —  Downy  Woodpecker  at  Nest  Hole,  .  .  .  faces  page  249 

PLATE  XXI. —Ruffed  Grouse  on  Nest, faces  page  267 

PLATE  XXII.  — Ruffed  Grouse,  One  Day  old,  ....  faces  page  268 

PLATE  XXIII.  — Ruffed  Grouse,  Four  Months  old,  .  .  .  faces  page  268 

PLATE  XXIV.  —  Ruffed  Grouse,  strutting,  ....  faces  page  270 

PLATE  XXV.  —  Robin's  Nest  in  Hollow  Tree,  ....  faces  page  283 

PLATE  XXVI.  — Robin  on  Nest,  . faces  page  289 

PLATE  XXVII.  — Wren  at  Nest  Hole, faces  page  293 

PLATE  XXVIII.  —  Chipping  Sparrows  feeding  their  Young,  .  faces  page  304 

PLATE  XXIX.  — American  Woodcock,  .  .  .  .  faces  page  336 

PLATE  XXX.  — Nighthawk, faces  page  341 

PLATE  XXXI.— Whip-poor-will, faces  page  341 

PLATE  XXXII.  — A  Swallow  Roost, faces  page  343 

PLATE  XXXIII.  — Nest  Robbers faces  page  359 

PLATE  XXXIV.  — Work  which  drives  out  the  Birds,  .  .  faces  page  360 

PLATE  XXXV.  — Cat  with  Young  Robin, faces  page  362 

PLATE  XXXVI.  —  Barred  Owl, faces  page  367 

PLATE  XXXVII.  —  Blue  Jay's  Nest  in  Author's  Grove,  .  .  faces  page  369 

PLATE  XXXVIII.  —  Fruits  that  are  valuable  as  Bird  Food,  .  faces  page  375 

PLATE  XXXIX.  — A  Bountiful  Repast, faces  page  378 

PLATE  XL.  —  A  Scratching  Shed, faces  page  378 

PLATE  XLI.  — Chickadee  seen  through  Window,  at  Author's 

Home, faces  page  380 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PLATE  XLII.  —  Chickadees  on  Pork  Rind,  ....  faces  page  380 
PLATE  XLIII.  —  Eniest  Harold  Baynes  taming  a  Chickadee,  .  faces  page  381 
PLATE  XLIV.  —Chickadee  feeding  from  the  Hand,  .  .  .  faces  page  381 
PLATE  XLV.  —  Chickadees  seen  on  a  Frosty  Morning,  through 

Author's  Window, faces  page  382 

PLATE  XLVI.  —  A  Red-breasted  Nuthatch  at  the  Window,  .  faces  page  382 
PLATE  XLVII.  —  Bird  Houses  and  Nesting  Boxes,  .  .  .  faces  page  391 

PLATE  XLVIII.  —  Inexpensive  Nesting  Boxes faces  page  392 

PLATE  XLIX.  — Chickadee  about  to  enter  its  Nest,  in  an  Old 

Varnish  Can, faces  page  392 

PLATE  L.  — Owl  Box,  at  Author's  Home,    .         .          between  pages  394  and  395 

PLATE  LI.  —  Owl  on  Nest, between  pages  394  and  395 

PLATE  LII.  — Chickadee's  Nest,   madet>f  Cotton,   in  Box  on 

Author's  Window, between  pages  400  and  401 

PLATE  LIII.  —  Chickadee  on  Nest,  .  .  .  between  pages  400  and  401 
PLATE  LI V.  —Mother  Chickadee  bringing  Food  to  Young, 

between  pages  400  and  401 

PLATE  LV.  —  Mother  Chickadee  cleaning  Nest,  between  pages  400  and  401 

PLATE  LVI.  —  Domesticated  Canada  Goose  on  Nest,          .        .    faces  page  417 


USEFUL  BIRDS  AND  THEIR  PROTECTION. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


THE  UTILITY  OF  BIRDS  IN  NATURE. 

There  is  no  subject  in  the  tield  of  natural  science  that  is 
of  greater  interest  than  the  important  position  that  the  living 
bird  occupies  in  the  great  plan  of  organic  nature. 

The  food  relations  of  birds  are  so  complicated  and  have 
such  a  far-reaching  effect  upon  other  forms  of  life  that  the 
mind  of  man  may  never  be  able  fully  to  trace  and  grasp  them. 
The  migrations  of  birds  are  so  vast  and  widespread  that  the 
movements  of  many  species  arc  still  more  or  less  shrouded 
in  mystery.  We  do  not  yet  know,  for  instance,  just  where 
certain  common  birds  pass  some  of  the  winter  months.  Some 
species  sweep  in  their  annual  flights  from  Arctic  America 
to  the  plains  of  Patagonia,  coursing  the  entire  length  of  the 
habitable  portion  of  a  hemisphere.  Many  of  the  birds  that 
summer  in  northern  or  temperate  America  winter  in  or  near 
the  tropics.  Some  species  remain  in  the  colder  or  temperate 
regions  only  long  enough  to  mate,  nest,  and  rear  their  young, 
and  then  start  on  their  long  journey  toward  the  equator. 

The  annual  earth-wide  sweep  of  the  tide  of  bird  life  from 
zone  to  zone  renders  the  study  of  the  relations  of  birds  to 
other  living  forms  throughout  their  range  a  task  of  the 
utmost  magnitude.  This  vast  migration  at  once  suggests 
the  question,  Of  what  use  in  nature  is  this  host  of  winged 
creatures  that  with  the  changing  seasons  sweeps  over  land 
and  sea? 

Our  first  concern  in  answering  this  question  is  to  deter- 
mine what  particular  office  or  function  in  the  economy  of 
nature  birds  alone  are  fitted  to  perform.  The  relations 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


they  may  bear  to  the  unnatural  and  semi-artificial  conditions 
produced  by  the  agriculturist  may  then  be  better  under- 
stood. The  position  occupied  by  birds  among  the  forces  of 
nature  is  unique  in  one  respect  at  least ;  their  structure  fits 
them  to  perform  the  office  of  a  swiftly  moving  force  of 
police,  large  bodies  of  which  can  be  assembled  at  once  to 
correct  disturbances  caused  by  abnormal  outbreaks  of  plant 
or  animal  life.  This  function  is  well  performed.  A  swarm 
of  locusts  appears,  and  birds  of  many  species  congregate  to 
feed  upon  locusts.  An  irruption  of  field  mice,  lemmings,  or 
gophers  occurs,  and  birds  of  prey  gather  to  the  feast  from 
far  and  near. 

This  habit  of  birds  is  also  serviceable  in  clearing  the  earth 
of  decaying  materials,  which  otherwise  might  pollute  both 
air  and  water.  A  great  slaughter  of  animals  takes  place, 
and  Eagles,  Vultures,  Crows,  and  other  scavengers  hasten  to 
tear  the  flesh  from  the  carcasses.  A  dead  sea  monster  is 
cast  upon  the  shore,  and  sea  birds  promptly  assemble  to 
devour  its  wasting  tissues.  The  gathering  of  birds  to  feed 
is  commonly  observed  in  the  flocking  of  Crows  in  meadows 
where  grasshoppers  or  grubs  abound,  the  assembling  of 
Crows  and  Blackbirds  in  cornfields,  and  in  the  massing  of 
shore  birds  on  flats  or  marshes  where  the  receding  tide 
exposes  their  food. 

A  study  of  the  structure  and  habits  of  birds  shows  how 
well  fitted  they  are  to  check  excessive  multiplication  of 
injurious  creatures  or  to  remove  offensive  material.  Birds 
are  distinguished  from  all  other  animals  by  their  complex, 
feathered  wings, — the  organs  of  perfect  flight. 

The  tremendous  muscular  power  exhibited  by  birds  is  only 
such  as  might  be  expected  in  creatures  provided  with  such 
perfect  respiratory,  circulatory,  and  assimilative  organs.  The 
strength  of  birds  as  compared  with  that  of  man  is  enormously 
out  of  proportion  to  their  size  ;  but  it  is  largely  concentrated 
in  the  muscles  that  move  the  wings,  for  it  is  by  flight  that 
the  bird  is  enabled  to  live.  Xo  other  animals  have  such 
sustained  power  of  flight  or  such  perfect  command  over 
themselves  while  in  the  air.  Even  the  bat,  which  is  a  most 
skillful  flyer,  being  remarkably  quick  in  aerial  evolutions, 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IX  NATURE. 


cannot  at  its  best  equal  the  bird.  I  once  saw  a  bat  make 
seven  attempts  to  catch  a  moth  fluttering  along  the  still  sur- 
face of  a  moonlit  river.  A  Swallow  could  have  seized  it  at 
once  with  no  perceptible  effort.  Xo  creature  can  equal  the 
soaring  of  the  Eagle  or  Vulture,  or  that  of  the  Man-o'-War 
Bird  as  it  sails  on  high  above  the  storm  ;  while  the  speed 
that  the  Hummingbird  attains  is  such  that  the  eye  can 
scarcely  follow  its  most  rapid  flight. 

Birds  are  provided  with  wings  to  enable  them  ( 1 )  to  pro- 
cure food,  (2)  to  escape  their  enemies,  (3)  to  migrate. 

All  birds  have  wings,  though  a  few,  like  the  Apteryx,  have 
them  only  in  a  rudimentary  form.  Others,  like  the  Penguin 
and  the  Ostrich,  have  small  wings,  but  cannot  raise  them- 
selves in  the  air. 

All  birds  that  cannot  fly,  however,  are  reminders  of  a  past 
age,  and  are  not  fitted  to  live  on  the  same  earth  with  man. 
Such  birds  are  either  already  extinct  or  in  a  fair  way  to 
become  so,  either  at  the  hands  of  man  or  at  the  teeth  or 
claws  of  the  dogs,  cats,  or  other  animals  that  man  introduces. 
Flight  alone  might  save  the  few  that  remain.  The  Great 
Auk,  using  its  wings  only  in  pursuing  its  prey  under  water, 
disappeared  before  the  onslaught  of  the  white  man  ;  while 
the  Loon,  flying  both  under  water  and  above  it,  still  sur- 
vives. 

Birds  are  pursued  by  many  enemies.  Water-fowl  fly  to 
the  water  and  dive  to  escape  the  Hawk  or  Eagle,  and  fly  to 
the  land  to  escape  the  shark,  alligator,  or  pike.  Sparrows 
fly  to  the  thicket  to  elude  the  Hawk,  and  to  the  trees  to 
avoid  the  cat.  Evidently  this  great  power  of  flight  was  given 
to  birds  to  enable  them  not  onby  to  concentrate  their  forces 
rapidly  at  a  given  point,  but  also  to  pursue  other  flying 
creatures.  Birds  can  pursue  bats,  flying  squirrels,  flying 
fish,  and  insects  through  the  air.  Bats  and  insects  are  their 
only  competitors  in  flight.  Comparatively  few  insects  can 
escape  birds  by  flight,  and  this  they  do  mainly  by  quick 
dodging  and  turning.  The  speed  at  which  birds  can  fly  on 
occasion  has  seldom  been  accurately  measured.  The  maxi- 
mum flight  velocity  of  certain  wild-fowl  is  said  to  be  ninety 
miles  an  hour.  Passenger  Pigeons  killed  in  the  neighbor- 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


hood  of  New  York  have  had  in  their  crops  rice  probably 
taken  from  the  fields  of  the  Carolinas  or  Georgia,  which 
indicates  that  within  six  hours  they  had  flown  the  three  or 
four  hundred  miles  intervening,  at  about  the  rate  of  a  mile 
a  minute.1 

The  rate  of  flight  of  a  species  must  be  sufficiently  rapid 
to  enable  it  to  exist,  and  so  perform  its  part  in  the  economy 
of  nature. 

Birds  find  distant  food  by  the  senses  of  sight  and  hearing 
mainly.  The  sense  of  smell  is  not  highly  developed,  but 
the  other  perceptive  powers  are  remarkable.  The  perfection 
of  sight  in  birds  is  almost  incomprehensible  to  those  who 
have  not  studied  the  organs  of  vision.  The  keen  eye  of  the 
Hawk  has  become  proverbial.  The  bird's  eye  is  much  larger 
in  proportion  to  the  size  of  its  owner  than  are  the  eyes  of 
other  vertebrates.  It  is  provided  with  an  organ  called  the 
pecten,  by  which,  so  naturalists  believe,  the  focus  can  be 
changed  in  an  instant,  so  that  the  bird  becomes  nearsighted 
or  farsighted  at  need.  Such  provision  for  changing  the  focus 
of  the  eye  is  indispensable  to  certain  birds  in  their  quick  rush 
upon  their  prey.  Thus  the  Osprey  or  Fish  Hawk,  flying 
over  an  arm  of  the  sea,  marks  its  quarry  down  in  the  dark 
water.  As  the  bird  plunges  swiftly  through  the  air  its  eye 
is  kept  constantly  focussed  upon  the  fish,  and  when  within 
striking  distance  it  can  still  see  clearly  its  panic-stricken 
prey.  Were  a  man  to  descend  so  suddenly  from  such  a 
height  he  would  lose  sight  of  the  fish  before  he  reached  the 
water.  The  Flycatcher,  sitting  erect  upon  its  perch,  watch- 
ing passing  insects  that  are  often  invisible  to  the  human  eye, 
in  like  manner  utilizes  the  pecten  in  the  perception,  pursuit, 
and  capture  of  its  prey.  Most  of  the  smaller  birds  will  see 
a  Hawk  in  the  sky  before  it  becomes  visible  to  the  human 
eye.  The  Vulture,  floating  on  wide  wings  in  upper  air, 
discerns  his  chosen  food  in  the  valley  far  below,  and  as  he 
descends  toward  it  he  is  seen  by  others  wheeling  in  the  dis- 
tant sky.  As  they  turn  to  follow  him  they  also  are  seen  by 
others  soaring  at  greater  distances,  who,  following,  are  pur- 

1  American  Ornithology,  Wilson  and  Bonaparte,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  319,  320.  Evi- 
dently a  quotation  from  Audubon's  Ornithological  Biography. 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IN  NATURE. 


sued  from  afar  by  others  still,  until  a  feathered  host  con- 
centers from  the  sky  upon  the  carrion  feast. 

Birds  are  lower  in  the  organic  scale  than  the  class  of 
mammals  which  includes  man,  the  four-footed  animals,  and 
even  the  seal  and  the  whale.  Birds  are  closely  allied  in 
structure  to  reptiles.  The  earliest  bird  known,  the  Archa?- 
opteryx,  had  teeth, 
two  fingers  on  each 
wing,  and  a  long  rep- 
tilian tail  adorned 
with  feathers.  Still, 
notwithstanding  the 
comparat  i  vely  1  o  w 
place  which  is  given 
by  the  systematists 
to  birds,  their 
physical  organiza- 
tion excels  in  some 
respects  that  of  all 
otheranimals.  They 
s  u  r  pass  all  other 
vertebrate  animals 
in  breathing  power 
or  lung  capacity,  as 
well  as  in  muscular 
strength  and  activ- 
ity. The  tempera-  Fig.  I.— The  Archseopteryx,  a  bird  with  teeth.  Re- 
tllTe  of  the  blood  is  stored  from  the  Jurassic  epoch.  About  one-fifth  natural 
size;  after  Chapman. 

higher  in  birds  than 

in  other  animals,  and  the  circulation  is  more  rapid.  To 
maintain  this  high  temperature,  rapid  circulation,  and  great 
activity,  a  large  amount  of  food  is  absolutely  necessary. 
Food  is  the  fuel  without  which  the  brightly  burning  fires 
of  life  must  grow  dim  and  die  away.  Birds  are,  therefore, 
fitted  for  their  function  of  aerial  police  not  only  by  their 
powers  of  flight  and  perception,  but  also  by  their  enormous 
capacity  for  assimilating  food.  When  food  is  plentiful, 
birds  gorge  themselves,  accumulating  fat  in  quantities. 
Shore  birds  frequently  become  so  fat  during  the  fall  migra- 


6  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


tions  that,  when  shot,  their  distended  skins  burst  open 
when  their  bodies  strike  the  ground.  This  accumulation  of 
fatty  tissue  may  aid  to  tide  the  birds  over  a  season  of 
scarcity,  but  the  moment  they  need  food  they  must  seek 
it  far  and  wide,  if  need  be,  as  they  cannot  live  long  with- 
out it.  Birds  are  not  always  the  ethereal,  care-free  creatures 
of  the  poet's  dream.  In  time  of  plenty,  the  joys  of  flight, 
of  sunshine,  of  singing,  of  riding  swinging  boughs,  or  toss- 
ing to  and  fro  on  flashing  waves,  are  theirs  to  the  full ; 
but  in  times  of  scarcity,  or  when  rearing  their  helpless 
young,  their  daily  lives  are  often  one  continued  strenuous 
hunt  for  food.  Food,  therefore,  is  the  mainspring  of  the 
bird's  existence.  Love  and  fear  alone  are  at  times  stronger 
than  the  food  craving.  The  amount  of  food  that  birds  are 
capable  of  consuming  renders  them  doubly  useful  in  case  of 
an  emergency. 

The  utility  of  birds  in  suppressing  outbreaks  of  other  an- 
imals by  massing  at  threatened  points  is  of  no  greater  value 
in  the  plan  of  nature  than  is  the  perennial  regulative  influ- 
ence exerted  by  them  individually  everywhere  as  a  check  on 
the  undue  increase  of  other  forms  of  life. 

He  who  studies  living  birds,  other  animals,  or  plants,  and 
the  relations  which  these  living  organisms  bear  to  one 
another,  will  soon  learn  that  the  main  effort  of  each  plant 
or  animal  is  to  preserve  its  own  life  and  produce  seed  or 
young,  and  so  multiply  its  kind.  He  will  see,  also,  that  the 
similar  efforts  of  other  organisms  by  which  it  is  surrounded 
tend  to  hold  its  increase  in  check. 

The  oak  produces  many  hundreds  of  acorns ;  and  were 
each  acorn  to  develop  into  a  tree,  the  earth  eventually  would 
be  full  of  oaks,  for  all  other  trees  would  be  crowded  out. 
But  many  animals  feed  on  the  acorns  or  the  young  seedlings  ; 
other  trees  crowd  out  the  young  oaks  ;  caterpillars  feed  on 
the  foliage  ;  other  insects  feed  on  the  wood  and  bark,  de- 
stroying many  trees  ;  so,  on  the  average,  each  oak  barely 
succeeds  in  producing  another  to  occupy  its  place. 

Certain  moths  deposit  hundreds  of  eggs  in  a  season ;  and 
were  each  egg  to  hatch  and  each  insect  to  come  to  maturity 
and  go  on  producing  young  at  the  same  rate,  the  entire  earth 


UTILITY  OF  BIRDS   IN  NATURE. 


in  a  few  years  would  be  carpeted  with  crawling  caterpillars, 
and  the  moths  in  flight  would  cover  the  earth  like  a  blanket 
of  fog.  But  under  natural  conditions  the  caterpillars  that 
hatch  from  the  eggs  of  the  moth  are  destroyed  by  birds, 
mammals,  insects,  or  other  animals,  by  disease  or  the  action 
of  the  elements,  so  that  in  the  end  only  one  pair  of  moths 
succeeds  another.  If  every  Robin  should  produce  five  young 
each  year,  and  each  Robin  should  live  fifteen  years,  in  time 
every  square  foot  of  land  on  this  continent  would  be  packed 
with  Robins  ;  but  the  surplus  Robins  are  killed  and  eaten 
by  various  other  birds  or  by  mammals,  each  striving  to 
maintain  itself;  so  that,  eventually,  the  number  of  Robins 
remains  about  the  same. 

Thus  we  see  that,  while  birds,  insects,  other  animals,  and 
plants  arc  constantly  striving  to  increase  their  numbers,  the 
creatures  that  feed  upon  them  operate  continually  to  check 
this  undue  multiplication .  The  Hawk  preys  upon  the  smaller 
birds  and  mammals.  The  smaller  birds  and  mammals  feed 
on  insects,  grass,  seeds,  leaves,  and  other  animal  and  vege- 
table food,  each  virtually  endeavoring  to  gain  strength  and 
increase  the  numbers  of  its  race  at  the  expense  of  other 
living  organisms. 

There  is  a  competition  among  various  dissimilar  organisms, 
also,  in  seeking  certain  kinds  of  food.  Grazing  mammals, 
such  as  cattle,  sheep,  and  deer,  eat  grass.  Grass  is  eaten 
also  by  birds,  mice,  and  insects.  If  any  one  kind  of  these 
creatures  should  be  left  without  check,  and  become  too 
numerous,  it  might  consume  the  food  supply  of  all. 

In  the  great  struggle  for  existence,  each  perpetuating 
form  of  life  that  we  call  a  species  is  really  an  expansive 
force,  that  can  be  restrained  and  kept  in  its  proper  place 
only  bjr  the  similar  expansive  forces  (other  species)  by 
which  it  is  surrounded.  It  is  as  if  the  whole  field  of  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  life  consisted  of  a  series  of  springs,  each 
exerting  a  pressure  in  all  directions,  and  each  held  in  place 
only  by  the  similar  expansion  of  the  springs  .surrounding  it. 
This  action  and  reaction  of  natural  forces  constitute  what  is 
known  as  the  balance  of  nature.  Any  serious  disturbance 
of  this  balance  is  always  fraught  with  serious  consequences. 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


All  animals  and  plants  are  sustained  and  nourished  by 
air,  water,  and  food.  Food  supplies  the  material  for  growth 
and  development.  Its  abundance  increases  the  energy  and 
fertility  of  a  species,  —  its  ability  to  produce  young  abun- 
dantly. The  study  of  the  food  and  food  habits  of  birds  and 
other  animals  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  for  by  this  study 
alone  we  are  enabled  to  trace  their  life  relations  to  each 
other,  to  plants,  and  to  man.  Some  progress  has  already 
been  made  in  this  study.  We  know  in  a  general  way  the 
character  of  the  food  of  some  of  the  common  birds  of  the 
United  States  ;  but  we  know  so  little  as  yet  of  the  food  of 
the  smaller  mammals,  the  reptiles,  batrachians,  many  insects 
and  other  lower  animals,  that  it  is  impossible  to  tell  what 
may  be  the  ultimate  effect  of  the  destruction  of  any  one  of 
these  animals  by  birds. 

On  the  other  hand,  no  one  can  tell  what  grave  and  far- 
reaching  results  might  follow  the  extermination  of  a  single 
species  of  bird  ;  for  it  is  probable  that  the  food  preferences 
of  each  species  are  so  distinctive  that  no  other  could  fill  its 
place. 

Birds  are  guided  by  their  natural  tastes  in  selecting  their 
food,  unless  driven  by  necessity.  Of  the  food  which  suits 
their  tastes,  that  which  is  most  easily  taken  is  usually  first 
selected.  In  the  main,  species  of  similar  structure  and 
habits  often  choose  similar  food,  but  each  species  usually 
differs  from  its  allies  in  the  selection  of  some  certain  favorite 
insects.  Were  a  species  exterminated,  however,  its  place 
might  be  taken  eventually  by  the  combined  action  of  many 
species,  for  nature  always  operates  to  restore  her  disturbed 
balances. 

The  complexity  of  the  food  relations  existing  between 
birds  and  other  organisms  may  be  indicated  hypothetically 
by  a  brief  illustration.  The  Eagles,  larger  Hawks,  and  Owls 
feed  to  some  extent  on  Crows,  and  probably  the  nocturnal, 
tree-climbing,  nest-haunting  raccoon  also  robs  them  of  eggs 
and  young ;  otherwise,  they  seem  to  have  very  few  natural 
enemies  to  check  their  increase.  Crows  feed  on  so  many 
different  forms  of  animal  and  vegetable  life  that  they  are 
nearly  always  able  to  find  suitable  food ;  therefore  they 
are  common  and  widely  distributed. 


UTILITY   OF   BIRDS   IN  NATURE. 


The  general  fitness  of  the  Crow  is  admitted  by  all.  Un- 
doubtedly it  has  a  useful  work  to  perform  in  the  world  ;  but 
a  careful  study  of  its  food  habits  shows  so  many  apparently 
harmful  traits  that  it  may  well  leave  the  investigator  in  some 
doubt  as  to  the  Crow's  value  in  the  general  plan.  Crows 
rob  the  nests  of  Robins,  eating  very  many  eggs  and  young 
birds  ;  they  therefore  constitute  a  serious  check  on  the  in- 
crease of  this  species.  Robins  feed  largely  on  common  black 
beetles,  called  ground  beetles  (Carabidne),  which  run  about 
on  the  ground,  hiding  under  stones  and  other  rubbish.  As 
these  beetles  are  not  quick  to  fly  by  day, 
and  are  easily  caught,  they  form  a  consid- 
erable part  of  the  food  of  many  ground- 
frequenting  birds.  But  ground  beetles 
feed,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  on  other 
insects.  The  question  then  arises,  Is  not 
the  Robin  doing  harm  in  killing  ground 
beetles,  and  does  it  not  merit  the  destruc- 
tion of  its  eggs  and  young  by  the  Crow?  Fig.  2._Ground 
If  the  Robin's  habit  of  eating  these  beetles  beetle, 

is  harmful,  is  not  the  Crow  rendering  a  service  by  destroy- 
ing a  bird  so  apparently  destructive  as  the  Robin  ?  Perhaps, 
if  there  were  too  many  Robins,  they  might  eat  too  many 
ground  beetles,  and  thus  become  the  indirect  cause  of  the 
destruction  of  much  vegetation,  by  saving  the  lives  of  the 
caterpillars  and  other  harmful  insects  that  the  ground  beetles, 
had  they  been  left  to  themselves,  might  have  destroyed.1 

Many  ground  beetles  that  are  eaten  by  the  Robin  feed 
much  on  vegetable  matter.2  This  makes  these  beetles  doubly 
useful  in  one  respect,  for  they  can  maintain  their  numbers 

1  These  questions  can  be  answered  only  by  one  having  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  food  of  our  ground  beetles, — a  knowledge  which  no  living  man  yet  pos- 
sesses ;  but  enough  has  been  learned  to  throwr  some  light  on  their  food  habits. 
Insects  that  feed  promiscuously  on  other  insects  are  generally  classed  as  bene- 
ficial in  so  far  as  they  take  insect  food,  even  though  they  may  destroy  some 
so-called  useful  insects ;  for,  as  the  so-called  injurious  insects  far  outnumber  the 
useful  ones,  it  is  considered  safe  to  regard  the  habit  of  feeding  on  insects  a  bene- 
ficial one. 

2  The  ground  beetles  of  the  genus  Calosoma  and  those  of  some  closely  allied 
genera  are  believed  to  feed  entirely  on  animal  food,  as  their  structure  fits  them 
for  that  alone.     They  feed  ravenously  upon  both  beneficial  and  injurious  insects, 
and  when  too  numerous  they  devour  one  another.     These  are  not  the  beetles  that 
are  generally  eaten  by  the  Robin,  however,  but  rather  by  the  Crow. 


10  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


when  insect  food  is  not  plentiful,  and  so  be  ready  to  check 
any  increase  of  insects  which  may  occur.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  they  become  too  numerous,  they  may  create  serious 
disturbances  by  destroying  grass,  grain,  or  fruit.  I  have 
witnessed  attacks  made  by  certain  of  these  beetles  on  grain 
and  strawberries;  and  were  they  not  held  in  check  by 
birds,  it  is  probable  that  they  would  soon  become  serious 
pests.  Their  destruction  by  Robins  and  other  birds  tends 
to  keep  these  beetles  within  those  normal  bounds  where 
they  will  do  most  good  and  least  harm ;  while  the  check 
kept  by  the  Crow  on  the  increase  of  the  Robin  may  pre- 
vent the  latter  from  destroying  too  many  ground  beetles. 
If  certain  low-feeding  caterpillars  became  so  numerous  as  to 
be  injurious,  ground  beetles  and  Robins  would  feed  largely 
on  them.  The  caterpillars  would  then  largely  take  the  place 
of  the  beetles  in  the  Robin's  food.  The  beetles,  therefore, 
would  increase  in  numbers,  and  the  force  of  both  bird  and 
beetle  would  be  exerted  to  reduce  the  caterpillars  to  their 
normal  limit.  This  accomplished,  the  Robin  would  again 
attack  the  ground  beetles,  and  thus  tend  to  reduce  them 
to  normal  numbers. 

Let  us  now  go  back  to  the  beginning  of  our  chain  of 
destruction.  The  Eagles,  Hawks,  Owls,  and  raccoons  may 
indirectly  allow  an  increase  in  the  number  of  Robins  by 
preventing  too  great  an  increase  of  the  Crow.  But  Hawks 
and  Owls  also  prey  on  the  Robin,  and,  by  dividing  their 
attention  between  Robin  and  Crow,  assist  in  keeping  both 
birds  to  their  normal  numbers.  Whenever  Crows  became 
rare,  Robins  as  a  consequence  would  become  very  numerous, 
were  it  not  that  the  Hawks  also  eat  Robins.  (Hawks  and 
Owls  eat  also  some  species  of  insects  that  are  eaten  by  both 
Robin  and  Crow.) 

There  are  compensations  in  the  apparently  destructive 
career  of  the  Crow.  An  omnivorous  bird,  it  seems  inclined 
to  turn  its  attention  to  any  food  which  is  plentiful  and  readily 
obtained.  It  is  a  great  feeder  on  May  beetles  (miscalled 
"June  bugs"),  the  larvae  of  which,  known  as  white  grubs, 
burrowing  in  the  ground,  sometimes  devastate  grass  lands 
and  also  injure  the  roots  of  many  plants,  including  trees. 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IN  NATURE.  11 

The  Crow  is  also  a  destroyer  of  cutworms.  These  are 
the  young  or  larvae  of  such  noctuid  moths  or  "millers" 
as  are  commonly  seen  fluttering  from  the  grass  by  any  one 
who  disturbs  them  by  walking  in  the 
fields.  Robins  also  feed  largely  on 
cutworms,  as  well  as  on  the  white  Fig.  3.  — Cutworm. 
grub  of  the  May  beetle.  When  these  insects  are  few  in 
number,  a  part  of  the  usual  food  supply  of  both  Robin 
and  (Vow  is  cut  off.  This  being  the  case,  the  hungry 
Crows  are  likely  to  destroy  more  young 
Robins  and  other  young  birds  than 
usual,  in  order  to  make  up  the  supply 
°f  anmial  food  for  themselves  and  their 
ravenous  nestlings.  In  a  few  years  this 
Fig.  4.-xoctuid  moth.  WQuld  decrease  perceptibly  the  number 

of  Robins  and  other  small  birds,  and  would  be  likely  in 
turn  to  allow  an  increase  of  May  beetles  and  cutworms. 
As  these  insects  became  more  plentiful,  the  Crows  would 
naturally  turn  again  to  them,  paying  less  attention  to  the 
young  of  Robins  and  other  birds  for  the  time,  and  allowing 
them  to  increase  once  more,  until  their  multiplication  put 
a  check  on  the  insects,  when  the  Crows  would  of  necessity 
again  raid  the  Robins  „ 

The  Blue  Jay  may  be  taken  as  another  instance  of  this 
means  of  preserving  the  balance  of  nature.  Hawks  and 
Owls  kill  Blue  Jays,  Crows  destroy  their  eggs  and  young ; 
thus  the  Jays  are  kept  in  check.  Jays  are  omnivorous 
feeders.  They  eat  the  eggs  and  young  of  other  birds,  par- 
ticularly those  of  Warblers,  Titmice,  and  Vireos, — birds 
which  are  active  caterpillar  hunters.  But  Jays  are  also 
extremely  efficient  caterpillar  hunters.  Thus  the  Jays 
compensate  in  some  measure  for  their  destruction  of  cat- 
erpillar-eating birds,  by  themselves  destroying  the  cater- 
pillars which  they  unconsciously  have  allowed  to  increase 
in  numbers  by  destroying  these  birds.  Like  the  Crow, 
they  virtually  kill  the  young  of  the  smaller  birds,  and  eat 
them,  that  they  (the  Jays)  may  eventually  have  more  in- 
sect food  for  their  own  young.  When  this  object  has  been 
attained,  the  Jays  may  again,  perhaps,  allow  an  increase  of 


12  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


the  smaller  birds,  the  survivors  of  which  they  have  unwit- 
tingly furnished  with  more  insect  food,  thus  making  con- 
ditions favorable  for  the  increase  of  the  smaller  birds. 
These  oscillations  or  alternate  expansions  and  contractions 
in  the  numbers  of  birds  or  insects  are  usually  so  slight  as 
to  escape  common  observation.  It  is  only  in  those  cases 
where  they  are  carried  to  extremes  that  they  result  disas- 
trously. Under  nature  the  checks  on  the  increase  of  birds 
are  essential,  else  they  would  increase  in  numbers  until 
their  food  supply  had  become  exhausted,  when  they  would 
starve,  and  other  consequences  even  more  grave  and  much 
more  complex  would  then  follow. 

While  these  examples  of  the  way  in  which  the  balance  of 
nature  is  preserved  may  be  regarded  as  somewhat  hypothet- 
ical, they  probably  approximate  what  actually  takes  place, 
although  the  feeding  habits  of  birds  undoubtedly  produce 
far  more  complicated  results  than  are  here  outlined. 

It  is  a  law  of  nature  that  the  destroyer  is  also  the  protector. 
Birds  of  prey  save  the  species  on  which  they  prey  from 
overproduction  and  consequent  starvation.  They  also  serve 
such  species  in  at  least  two  other  ways:  (1)  the  more 
powerful  bird  enemies  of  a  certain  bird  usually  prey  upon 
some  of  its  weaker  enemies  ;  (2)  these  powerful  birds  also 
check  the  propagation  of  weakness,  disease,  or  unfitness,  by 
killing  off  the  weaker  or  most  unfit  individuals  among  the 
species  on  which  they  prey,  for  these  are  most  easily  captured 
and  killed. 

TTe  have  seen  already  that  Jays,  which  are  enemies  of 
the  smaller  birds,  are  preyed  upon  by  the  more  powerful 
Crows,  Hawks,  and  Owls.  These  latter  also  destroy  skunks, 
weasels,  squirrels,  mice,  and  snakes,  all  of  which  are  also 
enemies  of  the  smaller  birds.  Xo  doubt  these  animals  would 
be  much  more  injurious  to  the  smaller  birds  were  they  with- 
out these  wholesome  feathered  checks  on  their  increase. 

In  a  state  of  nature,  albino  birds  or  those  that  are  rendered 
conspicuous  to  their  enemies  by  any  unusual  mark  or  color 
are  soon  captured  by  some  bird  of  prey,  and  seldom  live  to 
perpetuate  their  unfitness. 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IN  NATURE.  13 

Aii  experience  with  domestic  Pigeons,  related  to  me  by 
Mr.  AVilliam  Brewster,  will  serve  as  proof  of  this  state- 
ment. He  had  kept  a  flock  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  Pigeons 
in  confinement  at  Cambridge  for  many  years.  Under  such 
protective  domestication  the  individuals  of  the  flock  had 
assumed  a  variety  of  shades  and  colors.  There  were  blue 
Doves,  white  Doves,  and  many  pied  individuals  varying 
between  the  two  extremes.  He  removed  the  flock  to  his 
farm  in  Concord,  where  they  were  at  liberty  to  roam  at  will 
during  the  day.  Here  they  were  attacked  by  Hawks,  and 
in  five  years'  time  the  white  and  pied  birds  were  practically 
all  weeded  out,  and  the  flock  consisted  of  blue  rock  Doves 
alone. 

The  preservation  of  birds  by  the  weeding  out  of  sickly 
or  wounded  individuals  did  not  escape  the  notice  of  Prof. 
Spencer  F.  Baird,  who  wrote  :  — 

It  has  now  been  conclusively  shown,  I  think,  that  Hawks  perform  an 
important  function  in  maintaining  in  good  condition  the  stock  of  game 
birds,  by  capturing  the  weak  and  sickly,  and  thus  preventing  reproduc- 
tion from  unhealthy  parents.  One  of  the  most  plausible  hypotheses 
explanatory  of  the  occasional  outbreaks  of  disease  amongst  the  grouse 
of  Scotland  has  been  the  extermination  of  these  correctives,  the  disease 
being  most  virulent  where  the  game  keepers  were  most  active  in  de- 
stroving  what  they  considered  vermin.1 

It  appears,  then,  that  under  natural  conditions  the  birds  of 
prey  destroy  merely  the  unfit  and  surplus  individuals  of  the 
species  on  which  they  prey,  and  do  not,  on  the  whole,  reduce 
their  numbers  below  what  the  land  will  support. 

The  relations  of  birds  to  insects  merit  the  most  profound 
thought  and  study.  Xo  one  can  study  intelligently  the  effect 
produced  by  birds  upon  insect  life  unless  he  first  acquires 
some  knowledge  of  the  habits  and  transformations  of  insects, 
and  is  able  to  distinguish  the  so-called  injurious  and  benefi- 
cial groups.  A  brief  explanation  here  of  the  transformations 
of  insects  will  better  enable  the  reader  to  understand  the 
terms  used  later  in  describing  them  as  food  for  birds. 

1  Letter  from  Prof.  Spencer  F.  Baird  to  Mr.  J.  W.  Shorton.  published  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Cincinnati  Society  of  Natural  History,  1882,  Vol.  V,  pp.  69,  70. 


14  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Most  insects  emerge  from  eggs,  which  ordinarily  are  de- 
posited and  fixed  by  the  female  parent  in  positions  where 
the  young  will  find  suitable  food  in  readiness 
i     — jjLgp    for  them  when  the  eggs  hatch.     Some  insects 
f      ^yfj^     bring  forth  their  young  alive,  but  this  is  an 
Fig.  5. -Fiy  and  exception  to  the  general  rule.     The  young 
its  larva.        insect  that  emerges  from  the  egg  is  called  the 
larva  (plural,  larvae).     Some  larva;  are  provided  with  short 
legs  or  feet,  others  have  none  that  can  be  seen  ;  but  all  are 
without  wings,  and  move  about  mainly  by  crawling.     Their 
principal  occupation  is  to  feed.     Some  species,  such  as  the 


Fig.  6.  — Chestnut  beetle  or  weevil,  enlarged,    a,  larva  or  grub,  enlarged; 
b,  young  larva  in  chestnut,  natural  size. 

leaf-eating  caterpillars,  rest  during  certain  parts  of  the  day ; 
others,  like  the  larvae  of  flesh-feeding  flies,  apparently  feed 
constantly.  As  all  eat  enormously  and  grow  rapidly,  they 
are  capable,  when  in  great  numbers,  of  doing  much  harm  or 
good,  as  the  case  may  be.  The  larvae  of  flies  are  commonly 
called  maggots  or  slugs,  those  of  beetles  are  called  grubs, 
and  those  of  butterflies  and  moths  are  called  caterpillars. 
Much  of  the  injury 
done  by  insect  pests 
is  attributable  to  the 

larVJB  ;     although  Figt  7-  ~~  CaterPillar8> the  larvae  of  butterflies. 

some,  like  certain  leaf-eating  beetles,  are  injurious  in  the  per- 
fect form.  During  the  rapid  growth  of  a  larva  the  skin  is 
shed  several  times,  until  full  size  is  reached,  when  the  next 
transformation  is  effected,  and  the  larva  becomes  a  pupa  or 
chrysalis.  Among  the  butterflies  and  moths  (Lepidoptera) 
the  insect  often  spins  from  within  itself  a  thread,  which  it 
weaves  into  a  case  or  cocoon  which  encloses  it  while  in  the 


UTILITY   OF   BIRDS    IX  NATURE.  15 

pupal  form.  This  stage  it  passes  without  food  and  while 
fixed  to  some  object.  The  pupre  or  nymphs  of  some  other 
insects,  however,  move  about  freely,  as  is  the  case  with 
locusts,  grasshoppers,  and  like  insects  (Orthoptera).1 

The  pupa  finally  throws 
oft'  its  outer  shell,  and 
emerges  a  full}7  developed 
or  perfect  insect  or  imago 
with  wings  ;  although  some 
insects  which,  like  some 
birds,  have  lost  the  use 
of  their  wings,  never  fly.2 
After  the  union  of  the  sexes 
the  female  insect  eventually 

deposits     the     eggS     for     the  FI*.  8.-P«P.-eorehryB«lld8. 

next  generation.  Thus  we  have  four  forms  which  insects 
assume  :  (1)  the  egg,  (2)  the  larva,  (3)  the  pupa  or  nymph, 
(4)  the  imago  or  perfect  winged  insect. 

Practically  all  living  animals  of  appreciable  size,  as  well 
as  most  plants  that  are  visible  to  the  unaided  eye,  furnish 
food  for  certain  insects.  Other  insects  feed  on  dead  animals, 
dead  trees,  or  other  decaying  animal  or  vegetable  matter. 
A  certain  larva  has  been  known  even  to  tunnel  into  marble. 
Those  insects  which  feed  on  live  vegetation  or  living  animals 
are  capable  of  doing  great  harm  if  they  increase  unduly ; 
while  those  that  feed  only  on  dead  animals  or  dead  and 
decaying  vegetation  can  do  only  good  in  nature,  although 
they  may  be  injurious  to  man  by  destroying  hides,  furs,  pre- 
served meats,  or  clothing. 

It  is  difficult  to  perceive  the  usefulness  of  those  so-called 
injurious  species  which  feed  on  the  different  parts  of  plants  ; 
still,  the  larvse  that  eat  the  buds,  the  caterpillars  that  feed 

1  In  the  Orthoptera  the  transformations  are  imperfect;  the  larvae  of  grass- 
hoppers, for  example,  are  provided  with  well-developed  legs,  and  much  resemble 
the  imago  or  perfect  insect,  but  are  without  wings.     In  this  stage  they  are  usually 
called  nymphs.     As  they  approach  maturity  they  enter  what  is  virtually  an  im- 
perfect pupal  stage,  but  retain  their  shape,  limbs,  and  activity.     They  now  show 
rudimentary  wings,  but  it  is  only  at  maturity  that  they  are  capable  of  flight. 

2  The  Thysanura,  or  lowest  order  of  insects,  including  "  bristle  tails,"  "  spring 
tails,"  "  fish  moths,"  and  the  like,  never  become  winged  or  develop  any  trace  of 
wings. 


16  USEFUL   BIRDS. 

on  the  leaves,  the  borers  that  attack  the  twigs,  and  the  insects 
that  destroy  the  blossom  or  the  fruit,  all  probably,  when  in 
normal  numbers,  exert  a  useful  influence  by  a  healthful  and 
necessary  pruning,  which  at  least  does  no  injury  to  the  tree. 
It  is  only  when  these  insects  increase  abnormally  in  numbers 
that  they  seriously  injure  or  destroy  many  vigorous  plants 
and  trees.  During  such  outbreaks  birds  often  come  to  the 
rescue  of  the  trees.  Birds  feed  very  largely  on  such  insects, 
and  by  keeping  down  their  excessive  multiplication  perform 
a  great  service  in  the  economy  of  nature. 

Here  the  keen  senses  and  remarkable  flight  powers  pos- 
sessed by  birds  aid  them  in  concentrating  their  forces  imme- 
diately when  and  where  they  are  most  needed.  The  rule 
will  bear  repetition  here  that,  other  things  being  equal,  birds 
will  take  such  suitable  food  as  is  most  plentiful  and  most 
easily  obtained.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  feeding  of 
birds  on  insects,  although  there  are  some  insects  that  are  so 
protected  by  prickly  spines  or  acrid  secretions  that  few  birds 
will  eat  them.  Such  are  the  caterpillars  of  the  mourning- 
cloak  butterfly  (Euvanessa  anttopa)  and  the  imagoes  of  the 
Colorado  potato  beetle  (Doryphora  decemlineata) . 

Birds  are  quick  to  assemble  wherever  in  the  woods  the 
disappearing  foliage  denotes  the  presence  of  great  numbers 
of  destructive  caterpillars,  or  where  patches  of  dead  and 
dying  grasses  indicate  that  grubs  are  destroying  the  grass 
roots  on  meadow  or  prairie.  Birds  flock  to  such  places  to 
feed  on  the  easily  procured  insects,  and  so  take  a  prominent 
part  in  repressing  such  insect  outbreaks.  This  is  so  well 
known  as  to  be  worthy  of  only  passing  mention  here,  were  it 
not  to  inquire  whether  the  birds  that  assemble  in  such  locali- 
ties do  not  neglect  their  normal  and  special  work  of  hold- 
ing in  check  certain  species  elsewhere.  If  the  Robin,  for 
example,  which  feeds  normally  on  such  ground-frequenting 
insects  as  white  grubs,  cutworms,  grasshoppers,  March  flies, 
and  ground  beetles,  goes  to  the  woods  to  feed  on  caterpillars, 
as  is  sometimes  the  case,  does  it  neglect  to  devour  any  one 
of  the  insects  on  which  it  usually  feeds,  and  so  give  this 
insect  a  chance  to  increase?  If  so,  it  would  be  merely  sup- 
pressing one  outbreak  and  permitting  another.  But  birds 


UTILITY  OF  BIRDS   IN  NATURE.  17 

do  not  neglect  any  one  element  of  their  ordinary  food  in 
such  cases.  They  neglect  them  all,  both  animal  and  vegetal, 
for  the  time  being,  and  turn  to  the  now  abundant  insect  food 
that  is  more  readily  accessible.  This  I  have  observed  in 
studying  outbreaks  of  canker  worms,  and  Professor  Forbes 
records  a  similar  experience  with  birds  feeding  on  canker- 
worms.1 

This  apparently  agrees  with  the  experience  of  the  forest 
authorities  in  Bavaria  during  the  great  and  destructive  out- 
break of  the  nun  moth  (Liparis  monacha)  which  occurred 
there  from  1889  to  1891.  The  flight  of  Starlings  collected 
in  one  locality  alone  was  credibly  estimated  at  ten  thousand, 
all  busily  feeding  on  the  caterpillars,  pupa?,  and  moths. 
Enormous  flights  of  Titmice  and  Finches  were  similarly 
engaged.  The  attraction  of  Starlings  to  such  centers  be- 
came so  great  that  market  gardeners  at  a  distance  felt  their 
absence  seriously.2 

Evidently  in  such  cases  the  birds,  changing  their  usual 
fare  entirely  for  the  time  being,  remove  their  restraining 
influence  from  both  useful  and  injurious  insects,  leaving  one 
to  exert  its  full  force  as  a  check  on  the  other,  until  the  urgent 
business  of  the  serious  outbreak  of  grasshoppers,  caterpillars, 
or  some  other  pest  has  been  attended  to  ;  then  the  birds 
return  to  their  usual  haunts  and  food,  and  exert  the  same 
repressive  influence  as  before. 

Although  the  insects  which  are  potentially  injurious  are 
greatly  in  the  majority,  there  are  many  species  which  per- 
form a  very  apparent  useful  function  in  nature.  Such  are 
the  bees  and  some  of  their  allies  of  the  order  Hymenop- 
tera,  —  insects  which  travel  from  flower  to  flower  in  search 
of  sweets,  and,  becoming  loaded  with  pollen,  fertilize  the 
blossoms,  rendering  the  trees  fruitful.  Other  insects  seem 
especially  adapted  to  hold  the  potentially  injurious  species 
in  check.  Some  which  are  called  predaceous  insects  attack 
other  insects  and  devour  them,  as  do  the  ground  beetles 

1  The  Regulative  Action  of  Birds  upon  Insect  Oscillations,  by  S.  A.  Forbes. 
Bulletin  No.  6,  Illinois  State  Laboratory  of  Natural  History,  1883,  p.  21. 

2  Protection  of  Woodlands,  by  Herman  Fiirst.     English  edition,  translated  by 
John  Nisbet,  1893,  p.  126. 


18 


USEFUL    BI11DS. 


(Carabidse)  already  mentioned,  the  tiger  beetles  (Cicinde- 
lidge),  the  ladybirds  (Coccinellidse),  and  many  of  the  true 
bugs.  Such  insects  are  often  miscalled  parasites,  but  they 
do  not  merit  this  misnomer. 

The  predaceous  beetles  are 
the  wolves,  lions,  and  tigers  of 
the  insect  world.  They  hunt 
down  their  prey,  pouncing 
upon  it  and  killing  it  when 
found .  Often  these  insects 
are  so  ravenous  that  they  con- 
tent themselves  with  drawing 
the  life  blood  and  other  juices 
from  their  quarry,  leaving  the 
rest  to  be  devoured  by  ants 
Fig.  9. -Predaceous  beetle;  the  lion  or  other  scavengers.  While 

beetle  or  caterpillar  hunter.  the     larger    predaceous     beetles 

attack  many  of  the  larger  insects,  smaller  species,  such  as 
ladybirds,  assail  other  minute  insects,  such  as  the  aphids 
or  plant  lice. 

The  bugs  are  the  vampires  of  the  insect  world.     Armed 
with  a  strong  proboscis,  the  bug  pursues  its 
prey,  pierces  it  and  sucks  its  juices,  leaving  it 
drained  and  lifeless  ;  but  the  so-called  parasitic 
insects  feed  in  a  manner  entirely  different. 

Certain  families  of  the  Hymenoptera  and 
Diptera  contain  parasitic  genera  and  species. 
These  insects  range  in  size  from  that  of  a  large 
wasp  down  to  that  of  a  small  midge.  Most  of 
them  have  the  habit  of  depositing  their  eggs 
on,  or  in,  the  bodies  of  other  living  insects. 

Each  ichneumon  fly  is  armed  with  a  long 
^"1\\     Xx/)     ovipositor,  which  operates  somewhat  like  a 
hollow  sting,  by  means  of  which  it  is  en- 
abled to  pierce   the   skin   of  the  larvfe  of 
other  insects  and  pass  its  eggs  through  the 
1% .  11.  —  Hymenop-   puncture,  depositing:  them  in  the  body  tis- 

terous     parasite.  J 

imago,  natural  size   sues    beneath   the    skin.      These  eggs  soon 
hatch,  and  the  young  larvae,  emerging  from 


IO.-ITB- 

daceous  beetle; 

a  tiger  among 
insects. 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IN  NATURE. 


lit 


them,  feed  first  upon  the  fatty  portions  of  the  caterpillar 
in  which  they  find  themselves.  The  caterpillar  thus  unwill- 
ingly becomes  their  host,  furnishing  them  with  food  and 
lodging  from  and  within  its  own  substance.  When  they 
have  made  their  growth,  and  it  is  nearly  time  for  them  to 
pupate,  they  attack  the  vitals  of  their  host,  killing  it,  and 
then  pupating  either  within  or  upon  its  body.  Soon  they 
emerge  as  perfect  flies,  the  females 
again  seeking  other  caterpillars  as 
hosts  for  their  progeny.  Often 
these  parasites  do  not  kill  their 

^  .      .  Fig.  12.  — Host  caterpillar,  with 

host  Until   it  has  SOUght  Some   place        cocoons  of  the  parasite  upon  its 

of  safety  and  pupated.  Every  cat- 
erpillar or  pupa  thus  destroyed  nourishes  one  or  many  of 
these  parasites,  to  emerge  and  attack  surviving  caterpillars. 
The  parasites  themselves,  however,  are  often  attacked  in  the 
same  manner  by  a  secondary  parasite,  which  destroys  them 
precisely  as  they  destroyed  the  caterpillar.  The  larger  pri- 
mary parasites  may  deposit  a  single  egg  or  only  a  few  in 
each  caterpillar,  while  the  smaller  ones  may  deposit  the 
entire  brood  in  the  body  of  a  single  caterpillar. 

Birds  eat  both  predaceous  and  parasitic  insects.  We  have 
seen  that  they  eat  ground  beetles,  many  of  which  are  pro- 
vided with  acrid  secretions  that  are  supposed  to  render  them 
disagreeable  and  offensive  to  the  taste,  and  so 
give  them  a  certain  immunity  from  their  ene- 
mies. Evidently,  however,  it  takes  a  very 
strong  flavor  to  take  the  edge  off  a  bird's 
appetite,  for  birds  eat  bugs ;  and  any  child 
who  has  ever  eaten  berries  from  the  bushes, 
and  inadvertently  put  one  of  the  berry-eating 
bugs  in  his  mouth,  knows  how  disgusting  their 
Fig.  is.-Tiger  flavor  is.  There  are  some  useful  insects  that 

fTrm  aUe8a1eUn     ai'6  Seld°m  eaten   b7  birds-       The  VerJ  Smallest 

by  very  few    are  beneath  the    notice    of  most   birds.     The 

tiger   beetles   and    some    of  the   useful   flies 

are   so    quick   that   birds    find   it   difficult   to    catch   them. 

Wasps  and  bees,  though  eaten  by  some  birds,  can  protect 

themselves  very  well  with  their  stings.     Probably,  however, 


20  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


birds  eat  a  great  many  caterpillars  containing  parasites, 
though  birds  will  reject  any  caterpillars  that  show  signs  of 
weakness  or  disease.  The  question  then  arises,  Is  the  bird 
doing  harm  by  eating  caterpillars  or  other  larvae  containing 
parasites?  The  bird  certainly  ends  the  destructive  career 
of  the  larva  at  once.  The  parasites  would  have  ended  it 
eventually ;  but  had  it  been  left  to  them,  it  might  have  gone 
on  for  some  time  in  its  destructive  career,  doing  as  much 
injury  as  if  not  parasitized  ;  the  parasite  merely  destroys  it 
in  time  to  prevent  it  from  propagating  its  kind.  So  far  the 
evidence  is  in  favor  of  the  bird.  The  question  remains, 
however,  whether  the  bird  and  its  young  would  eventually 
destroy  more  caterpillars  than  would  the  progeny  of  the 
parasites  had  they  not  been  eaten  by  the  bird.  This  question 
evidently  is  unanswerable.  Birds  act  as  the  primary  check 
on  the  increase  of  destructive  insects  ;  parasitic  insects  are 
the  secondary  check  provided  by  nature  to  operate  in  con- 
junction with  the  birds,  or  to  supplement  the  regulative 
action  of  birds  where  the  number  of  birds  is  insufficient  to 
check  the  increase  of  insects. 

Birds  sometimes  kill  many  of  the  imagoes  of  parasitic 
insects  in  flight,  where  such  insects  are  numerous.  At  first 
sight,  this  would  seem  to  condemn  the  birds  ;  on  further 
study,  it  seems  probable  that  this  is  often  a  harmless  habit. 
Where  parasitic  insects  are  found  in  great  numbers,  it  is 
probable  that  the  birds  destroy  mainly  the  surplus  flies, 
which  otherwise,  failing  to  find  hosts  for  their  young,  would 
merely  live  out  their  time  and  die  without  issue  were  they 
not  killed  by  the  birds.  Such  harm  as  birds  do  in  killing 
primary  parasites  may  be  offset  by  the  killing  of  secondary 
parasites  by  birds,  for  this  acts  as  a  protection  to  the  pri- 
mary parasites. 

Certain  predaceous  bugs  feed  not  only  on  insects  but  also 
on  vegetable  food.  They  also  attack  other  predaceous  or 
useful  insects.  Birds,  by  preventing  their  undue  increase, 
may  prevent  excessive  injury  to  both  useful  plants  and 
insects. 

All  reasoning  from  known  premises  leads  to  one  conclusion 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IX  NATURE.  21 

regarding  the  utility  of  birds  in  nature.  It  may  be  stated 
confidently,  as  a  general  rule  (not  without  exceptions,  how- 
ever), that,  in  the  natural  order  of  things,  the  species  that 
is  kept  within  normal  numbers  without  great  fluctuations, 
whether  beast,  bird,  reptile,  batrachian,  or  insect,  will  serve 
a  useful  purpose  ;  while  the  species  that  increases  undulv 
will  devour  too  much  animal  or  vegetable  food,  and,  by  dis- 
turbing the  balance  of  nature,  become  a  pest.  It  is  the 
abnormal  increase  of  the  gipsy  and  brown-tail  moths  and 
the  "  English "  Sparrow  in  this  Commonwealth  that  has 
been  responsible  for  the  injury  they  have  done.  If  birds 
do  well  their  part  in  holding  in  check  native  insects,  small 
mammals,  reptiles,  batrachians,  and  other  forms  of  life  on 
which  they  feed,  they  have  fulfilled  their  mission,  even  if 
in  doing  this  they  destroy  some  individuals  of  some  species 
that  are  classed  as  useful. 

This,  then,  is  the  chief  mission  of  the  birds  in  organic 
nature  :  to  fill  their  peculiar  place  in  preserving  the  balance 
of  nature's  forces, — a  place  that  cannot  be  filled  by  any 
other  class  of  animals. 

In  much  of  the  foregoing  it  appears  that  the  birds  are 
engaged  in  checking  the  increase  of  insects  and  other  ani- 
mals, exerting  that  check  constantly  when  and  where  it  is 
most  needed.  The  vegetable  food  of  birds  is  perhaps  of 
less  importance,  but  here  also  they  exercise  a  restraining 
influence  by  destroying  seed  as  well  as  in  other  ways.  They 
also  exert  a  beneficial  influence  by  planting  seed. 

Birds  also  play  a  great  part  in  the  distribution  of  plants, 
the  upbuilding  and  fertilizing  of  barren  islands,  and  a  minor 
part  in  the  distribution  of  insects.  Wild-fowl  and  Herons 
may  sometimes  carry  small  seeds  for  many  miles  embedded 
in  particles  of  mud  which  adhere  to  their  feet.  AVhere  this 
mud  drops  from  their  feet,  the  seeds  may  sprout  and  grow. 
The  fruit-eating  birds  are  among  the  most  valuable  of  tree 
planters,  distributing  the  seeds  far  and  wide.  Certain  insects 
which  cling  to  the  feet  or  feathers  of  birds  are  sometimes 
distributed  in  this  way.  The  part  taken  bv  birds  in  forest 
planting  and  fertilizing  barren  lands  will  be  taken  up  far- 


22  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


ther  on,  in  connection  with  their  relations  to  forestry  and 
agriculture. 

Taken  all  in  all,  the  relations  of  birds  to  the  natural  world 
are  beneficent.  Evidently  birds  are  an  essential  part  of 
nature's  great  plan.  This  being  the  case,  they  must  be 
serviceable  to  man  also,  for  man,  the  animal,  is  a  mere  inte- 
gral part  of  nature. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  23 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  VALUE  OF  BIRDS  TO  MAN. 

Birds  are  classed  as  useful  or  injurious  only  as  they  affect 
man  or  his  property.  In  an  uninhabited  country  birds  can- 
not be  ranked  as  beneficial  or  harmful,  good  or  bad,  for  there 
is  no  agriculture.  There  the  earth,  untroubled  by  man,  brings 
forth  vegetation,  and  animals  after  their  kind.  Nature's  laws, 
working  in  harmony,  need  none  of  man's  assistance.  The 
condition  of  the  earth  before  man  appeared  is  typified  in  the 
Biblical  account  of  the  garden  of  Eden. 

PRIMITIVE    MAN'S    RELATIONS   TO    NATURE. 

TTe  have  seen  that  under  such  natural  conditions  all  birds 
are  essential  to  the  general  welfare,  each  filling  well  its 
appointed  place.  But  trouble  and  discord  come  to  Eden. 
Man  appears,  and  becomes  the  dominant  power  on  the  earth. 
He  sets  up  artificial  standards  of  his  own,  and  bids  nature 
conform  to  them.  He  is  constantly  at  war  with  nature.  He 
classes  wild  creatures  as  injurious,  provided  they  either  in- 
jure his  person,  or  cause  him  loss  by  destroying  or  harming 
any  of  his  property  or  any  of  the  wild  animals  or  plants 
which  he  regards  as  useful.  He  considers  all  wild  creatures 
beneficial  that  contribute  directly  or  indirectly  to  his  own 
welfare,  or  to  the  increase  in  value  of  his  property. 

He  is  often  in  error,  even  from  his  own  standpoint,  in 
thus  classifying  animals,  owing  to  an  insufficient  knowledge 
of  their  food  habits  ;  but  the  principle  holds  good,  and  stand- 
ards change  with  the  acquisition  of  knowledge. 

Man  in  a  savage  state  lived,  like  other  animals,  in  harmony 
with  nature.  At  first  he  practised  no  agriculture  and  domes- 
ticated no  animals.  He  made  war  mainly  upon  his  fellows 
and  the  larger  beasts  of  prey,  killing  them  in  self-defence 
or  for  food.  (It  seems  probable  that  primitive  man  was 
a  cannibal.)  Otherwise,  he  fed  altogether  upon  the  wild 


24  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


products  of  forest,  meadow,  sea,  lake,  or  river.  The  only 
creatures  that  he  then  could  regard  as  injurious  were  those 
that  attacked  his  own  person  or  the  persons  of  his  family. 

Any  irruption  of  animals,  such  as  vast  herds  of  deer,  bison, 
or  antelopes,  hordes  of  monkeys  or  rats,  flights  of  birds  or 
locusts,  outbreaks  of  caterpillars  or  other  creatures,  was 
about  as  likely  to  benefit  as  to  injure  him.  For  instance, 
when  locusts  became  so  numerous  as  to  destroy  a  part  or  all 
of  his  vegetable  food,  he  followed  the  example  of  other 
creatures,  and,  by  feeding  for  the  time  on  the  superabundant 
locusts,  exerted  an  influence  toward  restoring  the  balance 
of  nature.  (There  are  still  savage  tribes  in  various  parts 
of  the  earth  that  eat  monkeys,  rats,  locusts,  grubs,  or 
caterpillars. ) 

In  times  of  plenty  primitive  man  feasted,  as  did  other 
animals  ;  and  in  times  of  want,  like  them,  he  starved.  But 
usually  he  was  indifferent  to  any  ordinary  injury  done  to  the 
animal  or  vegetable  life  around  him,  as  he  owned  no  prop- 
erty, and  could  readily  move  his  camp  from  a  region  of 
want  to  one  of  plenty. 

CHANGED    RELATIONS    PRODUCED    BY    AGRICULTURE. 

With  the  beginning  of  agricultural  practice,  however,  all 
this  was  changed.  When  man  began  to  domesticate  animals, 
he  faced  immediately  a  host  of  enemies.  Wild  animals  and 
birds  attacked  his  cattle,  horses,  sheep,  goats,  and  hogs,  or 
devoured  their  young.  Tormenting  insects  stampeded  his 
herds,  or  carried  disease  and  death  among  them.  His  poul- 
try were  decimated  by  scores  of  rapacious  animals.  When 
he  began  to  plant  seed  and  raise  grain,  both  his  growing 
and  his  garnered  crops  were  attacked  by  a  host  of  ene- 
mies ;  for  noAV  he  had  begun  to  disturb  nature's  balance, 
and  nature  asserted  herself  in  the  effort  to  resume  her  inter- 
rupted sway.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  war  with  nature 
which  will  never  cease  so  long  as  man  inhabits  the  earth  ; 
for  the  agriculturist  does  not  work  altogether  with  nature, 
but  largely  against  her.  Most  of  the  animal  and  vegetable 
forms  that  he  produces  are  at  variance  with  those  produced 
by  nature,  and  must  be  continually  fostered  and  protected 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  25 

if  they  are  to  maintain  their  artificial  characters  and  excel- 
lences. Left  to  themselves,  the  various  breeds  of  domesti- 
cated Pigeons  would  all  disappear,  merging  into  the  original 
Dove  from  whence  they  sprang.  All  artificial  varieties  of 
animals,  plants,  and  fruits  would,  under  nature,  become,  in 
time,  like  the  wild  stock  from  which  they  originated.  Hence 
man  must  wage  war  continually  against  organic  nature,  in 
order  to  maintain  his  artificial  standards  against  her  inex- 
orable laws. 

The  beginning  of  agriculture  was  the  first  step  toward 
civilization  as  well,  for  the  necessity  of  remaining  near  his 
crops  to  guard  them  from  their  enemies  compelled  the  prim- 
itive farmer  to  erect  a  permanent  habitation.  This  took  his 
attention  from  war  and  the  chase,  for  much  of  his  time  was 
now  occupied  in  tilling  the  soil  and  caring  for  his  crops  and 
animals. 

The  slow  growth  of  primitive  agriculture  in  the  older 
civilized  countries  gave  time  for  a  gradual  adjustment  of  the 
forces  of  nature  to  the  new  conditions  established  and  main- 
tained by  man.  The  gradual  or  partial  clearing  away  of  the 
forests  occupied  centuries.  The  planting  of  crops  merely 
kept  pace  with  the  natural  increase  of  population,  while 
the  destruction  of  wild  animals  and  their  replacement  with 
domesticated  species  were  similarly  gradual  and  progressive. 
So,  although  in  the  older  countries  agriculture  suffered  much 
from  the  pests  to  which  its  operations  must  always  give  rise, 
it  remained  for  the  peopling  of  newer  lands  to  develop  the 
greatest  difficulties  in  the  path  of  the  farmer. 

Agriculture  produces  an  increased  food  supply.  The 
population  increases  correspondingly,  and  the  overflow  seeks 
new  fields.  In  these  new  lands,  of  which  America  is  the 
most  prominent  example,  the  conditions  of  civilization  and 
agriculture  have  replaced  with  marked  rapidity  those  of 
savagery  and  primeval  nature. 

MAN    AT    WAR   WITH    NATURE    IN   THE    NEW  WORLD. 

All  the  greater  changes  that  were  effected  gradually  by 
man  in  Europe,  where,  in  the  course  of  centuries,  civiliza- 
tion was  slowly  evolved  from  savagery,  —  all  these  stupcn- 


26  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


dous  changes,  —  were  wrought  here  in  a  few  years  by  the 
tide  of  immigration  from  the  eastern  world. 

In  many  communities  only  a  score  of  years  elapsed  be- 
tween the  subjugation  of  the  unbroken  wilderness  and  the 
building  of  a  farming  town  or  growing  city.  In  Massachu- 
setts the  settlers  cut  down  the  forest ;  killed  off  most  of  the 
larger  mammals  and  birds  ;  imported  and  bred  horses,  cattle, 
and  poultry ;  cleared  and  planted  much  of  the  arable  land ; 
introduced  many  new  plants ;  and  rapidly  changed  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  country  from  that  of  a  Avilderness  to  that  of 
an  agricultural  colony.  Thirty  years  after  the  landing  of 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers  at  Plymouth,  eastern  Massachusetts  was 
well  colonized ;  with  several  growing  seaport  towns ;  with 
prosperous  farms,  fertile  fields  and  green  pastures ;  with 
flocks  and  herds  grazing  on  many  a  hill,  where  the  wild 
Indian  and  the  red  deer  formerly  roamed. 

All  these  changes,  taking  place  so  rapidly,  produced  great 
disturbances  in  the  economy  of  nature.  As  the  wolf,  lynx, 
puma,  and  bear  were  killed  or  driven  away,  the  smaller 
animals  on  which  they  had  formerly  preyed  increased  in 
numbers  and  attacked  the  crops.  Crows,  Blackbirds,  and 
many  insects,  finding  in  the  grain  crops  new  sources  of  food 
supply,  swarmed  upon  them  and  multiplied  exceedingly. 
Birds  and  insects  attacked  the  cultivated  fruit.  Thousands 
of  acres  of  cleared  meadow  land  were  producing  crops  of 
grass.  Given  this  increased  food  supply,  locusts  and  other 
grass-eating  insects  increased  in  numbers.  The  settlers, 
meantime,  were  destroying  the  Heath  Hen,  Quail,  Plover, 
Blackbirds,  Hawks,  and  Crows,  the  natural  enemies  of  the 
locusts.  As  time  went  on,  many  new  plants  were  introduced 
from  Europe,  and  in  some  cases  insect  pests  unwittingly 
were  brought  with  them.  The  two  succeeding  centuries 
brought  about  a  tremendous  immigration  from  Europe.  As 
settlement  extended  into  the  western  States,  great  fields  of 
wheat  and  other  grains  were  established,  covering  the  plains 
in  some  instances  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see.  Hundreds  of 
thousands  of  acres  were  planted  to  orchards  and  vineyards ; 
great  areas  near  the  cities  were  devoted  to  garden  vegetables  ; 
north  and  south,  corn,  wheat,  and  cotton  clothed  the  land. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAX.  27 


THE    INCREASE    OF    INSECT    PESTS. 

Insects  introduced  from  foreign  lands  found  here  a  para- 
dise, in  which  to  multiply,  in  the  great  areas  planted  year 
after  year  to  the  same  crops.  Having  escaped  their  native 
enemies,  they  had  come  to  an  abundance  of  food  in  a  land 
where  many  of  the  insect-eating  birds  and  other  insectivo- 
rous animals  had  been  much  reduced  in  number  by  the  unwise 
policy  of  the  settlers.  Hence  the  rate  of  increase  of  im- 
ported insect  pests  in  America  has  far  exceeded  that  of  the 
same  insects  in  their  native  lands. 

Certain  native  American  insects,  finding  their  food  plants 
destroyed  by  the  cutting  down  of  the  forests  or  the  break- 
ing up  of  the  prairie,  turned  their  attention  to  the  crops 
of  the  farmer,  and  became  important  pests. 
Such  are  the  cutworms  (Xoctuidae)  ;  their 
name  is  legion.  Others,  having  been  reached 
in  their  desert  or  mountain  homes  by  the 
advance  of  civilization,  left  their  natural  food 
for  the  more  succulent  plants  raised  by  man, 
and  so  spread  over  the  country  from  farm  Fig.  14  _cllim.h 
to  farm.  Such  are  the  chinch  bug  and  the  bue.  much  en- 
Colorado  potato  beetle,  which,  as  civilization 
advanced  westward,  met  it  and  spread  toward  the  east. 

The  enormous  losses  which  have  occurred  in  the  United 
States  from  the  destruction  of  growing  crops  by  insects  must 
seem  incredible  to  those  who  do  not  realize  how  vast  are  the 
numbers  of  insects,  how  stupendous  their  power  of  multi- 
plication, how  insatiable  their  voracity. 

When  we  fully  appreciate  the  consuming  powers  of  insects, 
they  assume  an  economic  importance  greater  than  can  be 
accorded  to  the  ravening  beast  of  prey.  Let  us  consider 
briefly,  then,  the  potency  for  evil  that  lies  hidden  in  the  tiny 
but  innumerable  eggs  of  injurious  insects,  which  require  only 
the  warmth  of  the  summer  sun  to  release  from  confinement 
their  destructive  energies. 


28  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


THE   NUMBER   OF   INSECTS. 

The  number  of  insect  species  is  greater  by  far  than  that 
of  the  species  of  all  other  living  creatures  combined.  More 
than  three  hundred  thousand  have  been  described.  There 
are  many  thousands  of  undescribed  species  in  museums. 
Dr.  Lintner,  the  late  distinguished  State  entomologist  of 
New  York,  considered  it  not  improbable  that  there  were  a 
million  species  of  insects.  The  number  of  individual  insects 
is  beyond  human  comprehension  or  computation. 

Dr.  Lintner  says  that  he  saw  at  a  glance,  in  a  small  extent 
of  roadway  near  Albany,  more  individuals  of  a  single  species 
of  snow  flea,  as  computed  by  him,  than  there  are  human 
beings  on  the  entire  face  of  the  earth.  A  small  cherry  tree 
ten  feet  in  height  was  found  by  Dr.  Fitch  to  be  infested  with 
an  aphid  or  plant  louse.  He  estimated  (first  counting  the 
number  of  these  insects  on  a  leaf,  the  number  of  leaves  on  a 
branch  and  the  number  of  branches  on  the  tree)  that  there 
were  twelve  million  plant  lice  on  the  tree  ;  and  this  was  only 
one  tree  of  a  row  similarly  infested.  To  give  the  reader  an 
approximate  idea  of  the  number  of  insects  on  the  tree,  it 
was  stated  that,  were  a  man  to  count  them  singly  and  as 
rapidly  as  he  could  speak,  it  would  require  eleven  months' 
labor  at  ten  hours  a  day  to  complete  the  enumeration.1 

In  the  days  of  their  abundance  the  Rocky  Mountain  locusts 
in  flight  filled  the  air  and  hid  the  sun.  From  the  high  peaks 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada  they  were  seen  filling  the  valleys  below 
and  the  air  above  as  far  as  a  powerful  field  glass  could  bring 
the  insects  within  focus.  The  chinch  bug  in  countless  mil- 
lions infests  the  grain  fields  over  towns,  counties,  and  States. 
The  army  worm  moves  at  times  in  solid  masses,  destroying 
the  crops  in  its  path. 

THE   REPRODUCTIVE   CAPACITY   OF   INSECTS. 

Insects  are  enormously  productive,  and,  were  the  progeny 
of  one  pair  allowed  to  reproduce  without  check,  they  would 
cover,  in  time,  the  entire  habitable  earth. 

1  Our  Insect  Enemies,  by  J.  A.  Lintner.  Sixteenth  Annual  Report,  New 
Jersey  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1888-89,  pp.  293,  294. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  29 

The  rapidity  of  propagation  shown  by  some  insects  is  per- 
haps without  a  parallel  in  the  animal  world. 

In  order  to  give  some  idea  of  the  powers  of  multiplication 
of  the  Colorado  potato  beetle,  the  Canadian 
Entomologist  states  that  all  its  transformations 
are  effected  in  fifty  days  ;  so  that  the  result  of 
a  single  pair,  if  allowed  to  increase  Avithout 
molestation,  would  in  one  season  amount  to 
over  sixty  millions.1  beetle- 

Speaking  of  the  great  power  of  multiplication  shown  by 
plant  lice  or  aphids,  Dr.  Lintner  says  that  Professor  Rilev, 
in  his  studies  of  the  hop  vine  aphis  (PJiorodon  humuti), 
has  observed  thirteen  generations  of  the  species  in  the 
year.  Xow,  if  we  assume  the  average  number  of  young 
produced  by  each  female  to  be  one  hundred,  and  that  every 
individual  attains  maturity  and  produces  its  full  complement 
of  young  (which,  however,  never  occurs  in  nature),  the 
number  of  the  twelfth  brood  alone  (not  counting  those  of 
all  of  the  preceding  broods  of  the  same  year)  would  be 
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000  (ten  sextillions)  of  indi- 
viduals. Where,  as  in  this  instance,  figures  fail  to  convey 
any  adequate  conception  of  numbers,  let  us  take  space  and 
the  velocity  of  light  as  measures.  Were  this  brood  mar- 
shalled in  line  with  ten  individuals  to  a  linear  inch  touching 
one  another,  the  procession  would  extend  to  the  sun  (a  space 
which  light  traverses  in  eight  minutes) ,  and  beyond  it  to  the 
nearest  fixed  star  (traversed  by  light  only  in  six  years),  and 
still  onward  in  space  beyond  the  most  distant  star  that  the 
strongest  telescope  may  bring  to  our  view,  —  to  a  point  so 
inconceivably  remote  that  light  could  only  reach  us  from  it 
in  twenty-five  hundred  years. 

The  remotest  approach  to  such  unchecked  multiplication 
on  the  part  of  this  insect  might  paralyze  the  hop-growing 
industry  in  one  season.  While  the  aphids  may  represent 
the  extreme  of  fecundity,  there  are  thousands  of  insect 
species  the  unchecked  increase  of  any  one  of  which  would 
soon  overrun  a  continent.  Mr.  A.  H.  Kirkland  has  com- 

1  Report  of  Townend  Glover,  entomologist,  in  Annual  Report  of  the  United 
States  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  1871,  p.  74. 


30  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


puted  that  the  unrestricted  increase  of  the  gipsy  moth  would 
be  so  great  that  the  progeny  of  one  pair  would  be  numerous 
enough  in  eight  years  to  devour  all  the  foliage  in  the  United 
States. 

THE   VORACITY   OF   INSECTS. 

Many  insects  are  remarkably  destructive  because  of  the 
enormous  amount  of  food  which  they  must  consume  to  grow 
rapidly  to  maturity.  Many  caterpillars  daily  eat  twice  their 
weight  of  leaves  ;  which  is  as  if  an  ox  were  to  devour,  every 
twenty-four  hours,  three-quarters  of  a  ton  of  grass.1 

This  voracity  and  rapid  growth  may  be  shown  by  the 
statement  of  a  few  facts.  A  certain  flesh-feeding  larva  will 
consume  in  twenty-four  hours  two  hundred  times  its  original 
weight ;  a  parallel  to  which,  in  the  human  race,  would  be  an 
infant  consuming,  in  the  first  day  of  its  existence,  fifteen 
hundred  pounds  of  food.  There  are  vegetable  feeders, 
caterpillars,  which  during  their  progress  to  maturity,  within 
thirty  days,  increase  in  size  ten  thousand  times.  To  equal 
this  remarkable  growth,  a  man  at  his  maturity  would  have 
to  weigh  forty  tons.  In  view  of  such  statements,  need  we 
wonder  that  the  insect  world  is  so  destructive  and  so  potent 
a  power  for  harm  ?  2 

Mr.  Leopold  Trouvelot,  who  introduced  the  gipsy  moth 
into  this  country,  was  occupied  for  some  time  in  raising 
silkworms  in  Medford,  Mass.  He  made  a  special  study  of 
the  American  silkworm  (  Telea  polyphemus) .  Regarding  its 
food  and  growth  he  says  :  — 

It  is  astonishing  how  rapidly  the  larva  grows,  and  one  who  has  had 
no  experience  in  the  matter  could  hardly  believe  what  an  amount  of 
food  is  devoured  by  these  little  creatures.  One  experiment  which  I 
made  can  give  some  idea  of  it.  When  the  young  worm  hatches  out,  it 

1  A  probable  cause  for  this  voracity  in  the  case  of  herbivorous  larvae  is  that  the 
stomachs  do  not  have  the  power  of  dissolving  the  vegetable  matter  received  into 
them,  but  merely  of  extracting  from  it  a  juice.     This  is  proved  both  by  their 
excrement,  which  consists  of  coiled-up  and  hardened  particles  of  leaf,  which, 
when  put  into  water,  expand  like  tea,  and  by  the  great  proportion  which  the 
excrement  bears  to  the  quantity  of  food  consumed  (Kirby  and  Spence's  Ento- 
mology, p.  259) . 

2  Our  Insect  Enemies,  by  J.  A.  Lintner.     Sixteenth  Annual  Report,  New 
Jersey  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1888-89,  p.  295. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  31 

weighs  one-twentieth  of  a  grain ;  when  ten  days  old,  it  weighs  one-half 
a  grain,  or  ten  times  the  original  weight;  when  twenty  days  old,  it 
weighs  three  grains,  or  sixty  times  the  original  weight ;  when  thirty  days 
old,  it  weighs  thirty-one  grains,  or  six  hundred  and  twenty  times  the 
original  weight ;  when  forty  days  old,  it  weighs  ninety  grains,  or  eight- 
een hundred  times  the  original  weight ;  and  when  fifty-six  days  old,  it 
weighs  two  hundred  and  seven  grains,  or  forty-one  hundred  and  forty 
times  the  original  weight. 

When  a  worm  is  thirty  days  old,  it  will  have  consumed  about  ninety 
grains  of  food ;  but  when  fifty-six  days  old  it  is  fully  grown,  and  has 
consumed  not  less  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  oak  leaves,  weighing 
three-fourths  of  a  pound;  besides  this,  it  has  drunk  not  less  than  one- 
half  an  ounce  of  water.  So  the  food  taken  by  a  single  silkworm  in 
fifty-six  days  equals  in  weight  eighty-six  thousand  times  the  primitive 
weight  of  the  worm.  Of  this,  about  one-fourth  of  a  pound  becomes 
excrementitious  matter,  two  hundred  and  seven  grains  are  assimilated, 
and  over  five  ounces  have  evaporated.  What  a  destruction  of  leaves 
this  single  species  of  insect  could  make,  if  only  a  one-hundredth  part 
of  the  eggs  laid  came  to  maturity  !  A  few  years  would  be  sufficient  for 
the  propagation  of  a  number  large  enough  to  devour  all  the  leaves  of 
our  forests.1 

When  we  consider  the  dangers  arising  from  the  immense 
numbers,  fecundity  and  voracity  of  insects,  the  fact  that 
insects  new  to  cultivated  crops  are  continually  appearing 
becomes  a  source  of  grave  apprehension. 


THE    GREAT    LOSS   TO    AMERICAN    AGRICULTURE    BY 
INSECT   RAVAGES. 

Economic  entomologists,  who  are  constantly  increasing 
our  knowledge  regarding  insect  pests,  discover  every  year 
new  species  attacking  important  crops  or  trees.  Dr.  Lintner 
made  a  list  of  the  insects  injuring  apple  trees  in  the  United 
States,  which  was  published  in  the  appendix  to  his  first 
report  as  entomologist  of  New  York  State.  It  contained 
one  hundred  and  seventy-six  species,  while  large  though 
lesser  numbers  have  been  found  on  the  plum,  pear,  peach, 
and  cherry. 

The  study  of  the  insect  enemies  of  the  forest  trees  of  the 
United  States  has  not  yet  progressed  far  enough  to  deter- 

1  The  American  Silkworm,  by  L.  Trouvelot.  American  Naturalist,  Vol.  I, 
p.  85. 


32  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


mine  with  approximate  accuracy  the  numbers  of  insects  that 
infest  our  forest  trees.  The  forest  insects  of  some  sections 
of  Europe  have  been  studied  longer,  and  the  numbers  of  in- 
sects found  injuring  the  principal  trees  are  surprising.  Kal- 
tenbach  enumerates  five  hundred  and  thirty-seven  species 
of  insects,  from  central  Europe,  injurious  to  the  oak  ;  to  the 
elm  he  ascribes  one  hundred  and  seven.  The  poplars  feed 
two  hundred  and  sixty-four  species ;  the  willows  harbor 
three  hundred  and  ninety-six  ;  the  birches,  two  hundred  and 
seventy ;  the  alder,  one  hundred  and  nineteen  ;  the  beech, 
one  hundred  and  fifty-four ;  the  hazel,  ninety-seven  ;  and 
the  hornbeam,  eighty-eight.  Among  the  coniferous  trees, 
the  pines,  larch,  spruce,  and  fir,  collectively,  are  attacked 
by  two  hundred  and  ninety-nine  species  of  insects.1 

Dr.  Packard  enumerated  over  four  hundred  species  which 
prey  upon  our  oaks,  and  believed  it  not  improbable  that 
ultimately  the  number  of  species  found  on  the  oaks  of  the 
United  States  would  be  from  six  hundred  to  eight  hundred 
or  even  one  thousand.2 

The  list  of  insects  which  feed  on  grasses,  cereals,  field  and 
garden  crops  is  very  large  and  constantly  growing,  for  it  is 
continually  receiving  accessions  from  both  native  and  foreign 
sources.  The  destructiveness  of  some  of  these  insects  is  so 
enormous  and  widespread  that  the  financial  loss  resulting 
therefrom  amounts  to  a  heavy  annual  tax  on  the  people  of 
the  United  States.  Hence  since  the  first  settlement  of  the 
country  the  amount  of  this  annual  tax  has  been  increasing. 

In  1854  the  loss  in  New  York  State  alone  from  the  ravages 
of  the  insignificant  wheat  midge  (Diplosis  tritici),  as  esti- 
mated by  the  secretary  of  the  New  York  State  Agricultural 
Society,  was  fifteen  million  dollars.  Whole  fields  of  wheat 
were  left  ungarnered.  So  destructive  was  this  insect  in  the 
following  years  as  to  stop  the  raising  of  white  wheat,  and 
reduce  the  value  of  all  wheat  lands  forty  per  cent.3 

1  Die  Pflanzenfeinde  aus  der  Klasse  der  Insekten. 

2  Insects  Injurious  to  Forest  and  Shade  Trees,  by  A.  S.  Packard.   Fifth  Report 
of  the  United  States  Entomological  Commission,  1886-90,  p.  48. 

3  Report  on  the  Rocky  Mountain  Locust,  by  A.  S.  Packard.    Ninth  Annual 
Report  of  the  United  States  Geological  and  Geographical  Survey  of  the  Territo- 
ries, 1875,  p.  709. 


VALUE    OF   BIRDS    TO    MAN.  33 

Iii  1850,  in  Livingston  County,  New  York,  two  thousand 
acres  on  flats  which  would  have  yielded  thirty  bushels  of 
wheat  per  acre  were  not  harvested  because  of  the  destruc- 
tive work  of  this  insect.1 

Dr.  C.  L.  Marlatt,  of  the  Bureau  of  Entomology  of  the 
United  States  Department    of  Agriculture,   who  has  made 
careful    calculations    of   the    loss    still 
occasioned  by  the  Hessian  fly  (  Cecido- 
myia  destructor}  in  the  wheat-growing 
States,  says  that  in  comparatively  few 
years  does  it  cause  a  loss  of  less  than 
ten  per  cent,  of  the  crop.      On  the  val- 
uation of  the  crop  of  1904  this  would 
amount  to   over   fifty  million   dollars. 
Dr.  Marlatt  states  that  in  the  year  1900 
the  loss  in   the  wheat-growing  States    Fig   ia.  —  Hessian  tiy. 
from  this  tiny  mido-e  undoubtedly  ap-      About  Uvelve  time8  nat- 

0  >  ural  size. 

proached  one  hundred  million  dollars.2 

The  chinch  bug  (UUssus  leucoptei*us)  attacks  many  staple 
crops,  and  has  been  a  seriously  destructive  pest  in  the 
Mississippi  valley  States  for  many  years,  where  it  injures 
chiefly  wheat  and  corn.  Dr.  Shimer  in  his  notes  on  this 
insect  estimates  the  loss  caused  by  it  in  the  Mississippi 
valley  in  1804  at  one  hundred  million  dollars,3  while  Dr. 
Riley  gives  the  loss  in  that  year  as  seventy-three  million 
dollars  in  Illinois  alone.4  These  are  only  a  few  of  the 
extreme  losses.  Year  after  year  the  injuries  from  the 
depredations  of  this  bug  have  amounted  to  many  millions 
of  dollars. 

The  cotton  worm  (Alabama  argillacea)  has  been  known 
as  a  serious  pest  to  the  cotton  crop  for  more  than  a  century. 
The  average  loss  in  the  cotton  States  from  this  caterpillar 

1  First  Annual  Report  on  the  Injurious  and  Other  Insects  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  by  J.  A.  Lintner,  1882,  p.  6. 

2  The  Annual  Loss  occasioned  by  Destructive  Insects  in  the  United  States,  by 
C.  L.  Marlatt.    Yearbook,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  190i,  p.  467. 

3  Report  on  the  Rocky  Mountain  Locust,  by  A.  S.  Packard.     Ninth  Annual 
Report  of  the  United  States  Geological  and  Geographical  Survey  of  the  Territories, 
1875,  p.  697. 

4  First  Annual  Report  on  the  Injurious  and  Other  Insects  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  by  J.  A.  Lintner,  1882,  p.  7. 


34  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


for  fourteen  years  following  the  civil  war  was  estimated  at 
fifteen  million  dollars  per  year.1 

In  1873  the  injury  to  the  cotton  crop  reached  twenty-five 
million  dollars,  and  later  averaged  from  twenty-five  million 
to  fifty  million  dollars  annually.2  Now  a  new  enemy,  the 
Mexican  cotton  boll  weevil  (Anthonomus  grandis},  threatens 
equal  destruction. 

The  Rocky  Mountain  locust  (Melanoplus  spretus}  began 
to  destroy  crops  as  soon  as  the  country  it  inhabits  was  set- 
tled, and  is  still  injurious.  From  time  to  time  its  enormous 
flights  have  traversed  a  great  part  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 
It  reached  a  maximum  of  destructiveness  from  1874  to  1877, 
when  the  total  loss  from  its  ravages  in  Kansas,  Nebraska, 
Iowa,  Missouri,  and  neighboring  States,  including  injury  by 
depression  of  business  and  general  ruin,  was  estimated  at 
two  hundred  million  dollars.3 

In  those  years  this  devastating  insect  swept  over  the  Missis- 
sippi valley.  Wherever  its  vast  flights  alighted  or  its  young 
developed,  they  destroyed  nearly  all  vegetation,  ruining 
great  numbers  of  farmers,  causing  a  famine  in  the  land,  and 
driving  many  people  to  emigration.  This  was  an  extreme 
calamity,  such  as  is  not  likely  to  occur  again. 

A  still  larger  but  more  widely  distributed  loss  from  insect 
pests,  however,  is  still  borne  annually  by  the  American 
people.  Dr.  Lintner  states  his  belief  that  the  annual  and 
periodical  injury  caused  by  cutworms  in  the  United  States 
is  greater  than  that  caused  by  the  Rocky  Mountain  locust. 

In  September,  1868,  Prof.  D.  B.  Walsh,  editor  of  the 
American  Entomologist,  estimated  that  the  country  then 
suffered  to  the  amount  of  three  hundred  million  dollars 
annually  from  the  depredations  of  noxious  insects.  By  the 
census  of  1875  the  agricultural  products  of  this  country  were 
valued  at  two  billion,  five  hundred  million  dollars.  Of  this 

1  Fourth  Report  of  the  United  States  Entomological  Commission,  by  C.  V. 
Riley,  1885,  p.  3. 

2  Report  on  the  Rocky  Mountain  Locust,  by  A.  S.  Packard.     Ninth  Annual 
Report  of  the  United  States  Geological  and  Geographical  Survey  of  the  Terri- 
tories, 1875,  p.  591. 

3  Report  on  the  Rocky  Mountain  Locust,  by  Riley,  Packard,  and  Thomas. 
First  Report  of  the  United  States  Entomological  Commission,  1877,  pp.  115-122. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  35 

amount,  Dr.  Packard  says  that  in  all  probability  we  annually 
lose  over  two  hundred  million  dollars  from  the  attacks  of 
injurious  insects.  In  the  report  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture for  1884  (p.  324)  the  losses  occasioned  by  insects 
injurious  to  agriculture  in  the  United  States,  it  is  said,  are 
variously  estimated  at  from  three  hundred  million  to  four 
hundred  million  dollars  annually. 

Prof.  C.  V.  Riley,  in  response  to  a  letter  of  inquiry,   in 

1890,  stated  that  no  very  recent  estimate  of  the  injury  done 
by  insects  had  been  made;  but  that  he  had  estimated,  some 
time  previously,  that  the  injury  done  to  crops  in  the  United 
States  by   insects   exceeded  three    hundred   million  dollars 
annually. 

Dr.  James  Fletcher,  in  his  annual  address  as  president  of 
the  Society  of  Economic  Entomologists,  in  Washington,  in 

1891,  stated  that  the  agricultural   products   of  the  United 
States  were  then  estimated  at  about  three  billion,  eight  hun- 
dred million  dollars.     It  was  believed  that  a  sum  equal  to 
about  one-tenth  of  this  amount,  or  three  hundred  and  eighty 
million  dollars,  was  lost  annually  through  the  ravages  of 
injurious  insects. 

It  is  evident  that,  in  spite  of  the  improved  methods  of 
fighting  insects,  the  aggregate  loss  from  this  source  increases 
in  proportion  as  the  land  under  cultivation  increases. 

The  most  recent  estimate  of  the  loss  occasioned  by  insect 
injury  in  the  United  States  which  has  come  to  my  notice  is 
that  of  Dr.  C.  L.  Marlatt,  who  by  careful  estimates  approxi- 
mates the  percentage  of  loss  to  cereal  products,  hay,  cotton, 
tobacco,  truck  crops,  sugars,  fruits,  forests,  miscellaneous 
crops,  animal  products,  and  products  in  storage. 

Dr.  Marlatt  attributes  an  annual  loss  of  eighty  million 
dollars  to  the  corn  crop  alone,  and  approximates  the  loss  to 
the  wheat  crop  at  one  hundred  million  dollars  each  year. 
The  injury  to  the  hay  crop  is  estimated  at  five  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand  dollars,  while  the  codling  moth  alone  is  be- 
lieved to  injure  fruit  crops  to  the  amount  of  twenty  million 
dollars  annually. 

This  statement,  based  on  the  value  of  farm  products  as 
given  in  the  reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  the  United 


36  USEFUL    BIRDS. 

States  Department  of  Agriculture  for  1904,  gives  the  loss 
from  insect  depredations  for  that  year  as  seven  hundred  and 
ninety-five  million,  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  ;  and  this 
is  believed  to  be  a  conservative  estimate  of  the  tax  now  im- 
posed by  injurious  insects  on  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
without  reckoning  the  millions  of  dollars  that  are  expended 
annually  in  labor  and  insecticides  in  the  fight  against  insects.1 

LOSSES  BY  INSECT  RAVAGES  IN  MASSACHUSETTS. 

The  proportion  of  this  loss  that  Massachusetts  is  called 
upon  to  bear  has  not  received  the  attention  that  it  deserves. 
Some  figures,  however,  may  be  given.  In  1861  the  army 
worm  (probably  Heliophila  unipuncta)  swept  eastern  Mas- 
sachusetts. The  damage  done  to  crops,  according  to  Dr. 
Packard,  exceeded  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.2  We  have 
no  estimates  of  the  loss  occasioned  by  more  recent  invasions 
of  this  insect.  Prof.  C.  H.  Fernald  3  estimates  that  an  amount 
of  cranberries  equal  to  one-third  the  possible  crop  of  the  Cape 
Cod  region  is  annually  destroyed  by  insects.  Thus  a  sum 
not  less  than  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  is  yearly  lost  to 
the  people  of  that  region. 

In  1890  Dr.  Henry  H.  Goodell,  president  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Agricultural  College,  stated  that  it  was  costing  the 
farmers  of  the  United  States  two  million  dollars,  and  the 
farmers  of  Massachusetts  eighty  thousand  dollars,  each  year, 
to  hold  the  Colorado  potato  beetle  in  check  by  the  use  of 
Paris  green.4 

In  1901  Hon.  J.  W.  Stockwell,  then  secretary  of  the 
Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  asked  me  to  esti- 
mate the  annual  loss  to  the  Commonwealth  through  the  rav- 
ages of  insect  pests.  My  estimate,  which  seemed  to  me  at 

1  The  Annual  Loss  occasioned  by  Destructive  Insects  in  the  United  States,  by 
C.  L.  Marlatt.    Yearbook,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  1904,  p.  464. 

2  First  Report  on  Injurious  and  Beneficial  Insects  of  Massachusetts,  by  A.  S. 
Packard.     Annual  Report  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1870, 
Part  I,  p.  353. 

3  In  Bulletin  No.  19  of  the  Hatch  Experiment  Station  of  the  Massachusetts 
Agricultural  College,  Professor  Fernald  gives  statistics  of  the  cranberry  crop, 
and  evidence  from  which  his  estimate  is  made. 

4  Agricultural  Education,  by  H.  H.  Goodell.     Sixth  Annual  Report  of  the 
Rhode  Island  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1891,  p.  186. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  37 

the  time  a  most  safe  and  conservative  one,  was  three  million, 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Mr.  Stockwell  also  asked 
Dr.  II.  T.  Fernald  and  Mr.  A.  H.  Kirkland,  both  expert 
economic  entomologists,  to  make,  independently,  a  similar 
estimate.  Their  replies  follow,  showing  how  they  made  up 
their  figures.  These  gentlemen  had  every  facility  for  obtain- 
ing knowledge  of  insect  injury  in  the  Commonwealth.  It 
will  be  seen  that  their  approximations  considerably  exceeded 
my  own.  Dr.  H.  T.  Fernald  says  : l  — 

Years  ago  a  number  of  experts,  figuring  independently,  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  for  farm,  market-garden  and  orchard  crops  the  loss  by 
the  attacks  of  insects  in  an  average  year  would  represent  one-tenth  of 
the  value  of  the  crop,  or  about  two  million,  six  hundred  thousand  dollars 
for  Massachusetts.  Recently,  however,  prominent  entomologists  have 
expressed  the  opinion  that  this  per  cent,  is  too  low.  Three  factors  have 
caused  this  change :  first,  the  concentration  of  crops  of  the  same  kind 
into  large  contiguous  acreage ;  second,  the  introduction  of  over  one 
hundred  pests  from  foreign  countries,  which  have  been  here  long  enough 
to  make  their  presence  seriously  felt ;  and  third,  the  great  reduction  in 
the  number  of  insectivorous  birds. 

I  believe  it  will  be  entirely  safe  to  take  fifteen  per  cent,  of  the  crop 
valuation  of  Massachusetts,  and  that  you  will  be  sufficiently  conserva- 
tive in  using  that  amount  as  representing  part  of  the  damage.  I  have 
never  seen  a  cherry  tree  killed  by  plant  lice,  yet  I  have  often  seen  lice 
so  abundant  on  cherry  trees  as  to  much  reduce  the  crop,  which  is  true 
of  a  large  proportion  of  our  crops ;  and  it  is  loss  of  this  kind  which  is 
covered  by  the  fifteen  per  cent,  estimate,  .  .  .  but  how  are  we  to  place 
a  money  value  on  the  defoliation  of  an  elm  tree  unless  it  be  repeated 
year  after  year  until  the  tree  dies  ?  I  would  be  inclined  to  add,  to  the 
fifteen  per  cent,  estimate  already  given,  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars  for  labor,  apparatus,  poison,  etc.,  used  in  the  fight  against 
insects,  and  another  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  cover 
damage  actually  done,  but  which  cannot  be  reduced  to  figures,  making 
a  total  yearly  damage  of  four  million,  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  for 
Massachusetts. 


Mr.  Kirkland  says  : 


The  best  figures  available  for  estimating  the  loss  caused  by  pests  in 
this  State  are  those  of  the  1895  census.  From  the  report  of  this  census 
I  have  taken  figures  giving  the  value  of  certain  crops  notably  attacked 

1  Report  of  Secretary  J.  \V.  Stockwell,  Annual  Report  of  the  Massachusetts 
State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1901,  pp.  xiii,  xiv. 


38 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


by  insects,  and  have  estimated  in  each  case  the  probable  average  yearly 
reduction  in  value  caused  by  these  pests.  The  data  used  are  given  be- 
low. I  have  tried  to  make  a  conservative  estimate  in  the  case  of  each 
product,  since,  to  have  any  value,  such  an  estimate  should  fall  below 
rather  than  above  the  actual  amount.  Even  then  the  figures  afford 
material  for  serious  reflection  on  the  part  of  agriculturists. 


PRODUCT. 

Value 
of  Product. 

Percentage 
damaged 
by  Insects. 

Amount 
of  Damage. 

$1,749,070 

10 

$174  907  00 

Hothouse  and  hotbed  products,    . 

97,227 
182906 

5 
15 

4,861  35 
27  435  90 

o  780  314 

20 

556  06l>  80 

Cereal  products,        
Fruits,  berries,  and  nuts, 

1,104!578 
2,850,585 
12,491,090 

5 
25 
10 

55,228  90 
712,64<i  25 
1  249  109  00 

Vegetables          .              . 

6389533 

20 

1  *>77  <)06  60 

Tobacco,       
Property  :  — 
Fruit  trees,  vines,  etc.,    . 

544,968 
7,924,878 

10 
10 

54,496  80 
792,487  80 

Totals,         

$36,115,149 

- 

$4,905,142  40 

Assuming  the  accuracy  of  these  data,  and  exclusive  of  the  damage 
wrought  by  insects  to  our  woodlands,  street  trees,  parks,  etc.,  we  have 
in  round  figures  five  million  dollars  as  the  average  annual  damage  from 
insects  to  agricultural  products  and  property  in  this  Commonwealth. 

While  the  cost  of  insect  injury  is  enormous,  the  expense 
of  fighting  injurious  insects  in  the  attempt  to  protect  crops 
and  trees  from  their  ravages  is  proportionately  great.  In 
recent  years  Massachusetts  has  had,  and  is  still  having,  a 
costly  experience  in  attempting  to  control  or  suppress  an 
imported  insect. 

The  gipsy  moth  (.Porfketria  dispar^,  a  well-known  pest 
of  European  countries,  was  introduced  into  Medford,  Mass., 
by  Mr.  Leopold  Trouvelot,  in  1868  or  1869.  Twenty  years 
later  the  moths  had  increased  in  numbers  to  such  an  extent 
that  they  were  destroying  the  trees  and  shrubbery  in  that 
section  of  Medford  where  they  were  first  liberated. 

They  swarmed  over  the  houses  of  the  inhabitants,  invaded 
their  gardens,  and  became  such  a  public  nuisance  that  in 
1890  the  Legislature  appropriated  fifty  thousand  dollars  for 
their  extermination.  It  was  learned  within  the  next  two  years 
that  the  moths  had  spread  over  thirty  towns.  The  State 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO  MAN.  39 

Board  of  Agriculture  was  given  charge  of  the  work  in  1891, 
and  over  one  million  dollars  were  expended  within  the  next 
ten  years  in  the  attempt  to  exterminate  the  insect.  As  at 
the  expiration  of  that  time  all  the  larger  moth  colonies  had 
been  destroyed,  the  Legislature,  deeming  further  expendi- 
ture unwise,  gave  up  the  work,  despite  the  protest  of  the 
Board  of  Agriculture,  and  its  prediction  that  a  speedy  rise 
of  the  moth  would  follow  the  cessation  of  concerted  effort 
against  it.  This  prediction  has  been  abundantly  fulfilled, 
and  the  policy  of  the  Board  has  been  fully  justified. 

Dr.  Marlatt,  who  in  1904  visited  the  region  infested  by  the 
moth,  reported  to  the  Bureau  of  Entomology  at  AVashington 
that  the  people  of  the  infested  district  were  then  fighting  the 
insect  at  a  greater  annual  cost  than  that  formerly  assumed 
by  the  State.  Since  the  State  gave  up  the  work,  a  single 
citizen,  Gen.  Samuel  C.  Lawrence  of  Medford,  has  expended 
over  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  to  protect  the  trees  and 
plants  on  his  estate. 

Finally,  in  1905  the  Legislature  was  obliged  to  renew  the 
fight,  and  appropriate  the  sum  of  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars  for  work  against  both  this  insect  and  another  im- 
ported pest, — the  brown-tail  moth  (Euproclis  chrysorrkea) , 
which  had  been  introduced  into  Somerville  some  time  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  centmy. 

The  State  has  also  been  obliged  to  call  on  municipalities 
and  individuals  to  assist  in  the  work  of  suppressing  these 
moths,  at  an  annual  expense  to  those  concerned  which  ex- 
ceeds all  previous  yearly  expenditures  for  this  purpose. 

These  insects  have  gained  a  much  larger  territory  than 
ever  before,  and  thousands  of  acres  of  woodland  have  been 
attacked  by  them  during  the  present  }'ear  (1905),  and  many 
pine  and  other  trees  have  been  killed. 

The  gipsy  moth  has  been  found  in  Rhode  Island,  Connect- 
icut, and  New  Hampshire,  and  the  brown-tail  moth  is  also 
spreading  into  other  States. 

The  prospect  now  seems  to  be  that  our  protective  expenses 
against  these  two  insects,  as  well  as  the  injury  done  by  them, 
will  increase  constantly  :  and  that  other  States  also  will  be 
put  to  similar  expense,  with  no  prospect  of  permanent  relief 


40  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


save  by  such  checks  as  may  come,  in  time,  through  natural 
causes. 

In  view  of  the  dangers  threatened  by  insect  increase  and 
voracity,  how  fortunate  it  is  for  the  human  race  that  so  many 
counter-checks  are  provided  against  the  multiplication  of 
these  destructive  creatures.  If  we  could  increase  by  so  much 
as  one  per  cent,  the  efficiency  of  the  natural  enemies  of 
insects,  a  large  proportion  of  the  loss  occasioned  by  insect 
injury  might  be  saved.  Hence  the  importance  of  the  study 
of  these  natural  enemies,  among  which  birds  hold  a  high 
place. 

THE   CAPACITY   OF   BIRDS   FOR  DESTROYING   PESTS. 

When  we  realize  the  losses  that  insects  are  capable  of  in- 
flicting, we  see  at  once  that  birds,  in  their  capacity  of  insect 
destroyers,  continually  operate  to  prevent  the  destruction  of 
some  of  our  most  important  industries.  If  birds  are  present 
in  sufficient  numbers,  they  will  prevent  the  excessive  increase 
of  any  kind  of  a  pest  which  they  will  eat. 

The  number  of  birds  required  to  accomplish  this  highly 
desirable  end  need  not  be  very  large  in  comparison  with  the 
number  of  insects ;  for  each  bird  can  devour  an  incredible 
number  of  insects,  and  the  young  birds  in  the  nests  require 
more  of  this  food,  in  proportion  to  their  size,  than  do  their 
parents. 

The   Digestion   of  Birds. 

The  digestive  organs  of  birds  are  so  constructed  and 
equipped  that  they  can  both  contain  and  dispose  of  a  very 
large  quantity  of  food.  The  stomachs  of  many  species 
quickly  separate  the  indigestible  portions  of  the  food  from 
the  digestible  parts,  and  the  former  are  thrown  out  of  the 
mouth,  thus  relieving  the  stomach  of  much  worthless  mate- 
rial, and  enabling  the  bird  immediately  to  consume  more 
food.  The  alimentary  canal  (including  the  crop,  gullet  or 
oasophagus,  the  first  division  of  the  stomach  or  proventricu- 
lus,  the  gizzard,  gigerium  or  second  division  of  the  stomach, 
the  intestine  and  the  cloaca)  consists  of  a  tube  reaching  from 
mouth  to  anus,  conveying  the  food.  The  nutritious  qualities 
of  the  food  are  drawn  off  by  the  lacteals  as  it  passes ;  the 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN. 


41 


refuse  is  voided.  This  is  digestion.  The  food  is  often  manip- 
ulated, crushed,  or  divided  by  the  beak.  It  then  receives 
saliva  from  the  mouth,  and  passes  through  the  pharynx  into 
either  the  gullet  (a  muscular  and  membranous  tube)  or  crop 
(a  pouch) ,  as  the  case  may  be,  organs  capable 
of  great  distention,  and  connecting  with  the 
first  division  of  the  stomach.  Here,  then, 
is  the  first  receptacle  of  the  food.  Birds 
of  prey,  Herons  and  some  other  large  birds 
sometimes  fill  the  gullet  to  the  very  mouth, 
while  awaiting  the  digestion  of  the  food  in 
a  stomach  already  full.  The  Pelicans  have 
also  another  great  receptacle  or  pouch,  ex- 
ternal and  beneath  the  beak,  where  a  store 
of  food  can  be  carried.  Many  of  the  smaller 
birds  also  are  able,  after  filling  the  stomach, 
to  stow  away  a  still  larger  supply  of  food 
in  the  gullet.  The  stomach  is  large,  and 
usually  capable,  bv  distention,  of  contain- 
ing a  considerable  quantity  of  food.  The 
food  passes  from  the  gullet  or  the  crop  to  Fig  i7._Aiimen- 
the  proventriculus  or  glandular  portion  of 
the  stomach.  This  is  where  the  process 
of  digestion  begins.  Mixed  with  salivary, 
ingluvial,  and  proventricular  secretions,  the 
food  next  passes  to  the  gizzard  or  muscular 
division  of  the  stomach,  where  the  food  grist  is  ground  fine. 

Among  seed-eating  birds  the  heavy,  powerful  muscles  of 
this  portion  of  the  stomach  are,  with  the  rough,  calloused 
stomach  lining,  assisted  in  their  work  by  sand  and  gravel 
which  are  swallowed.  This  mineral  matter  takes  the  place 
of  teeth  in  grinding  the  food. 

In  vegetable-feeding  birds  the  intestine  is  very  long  and 
much  coiled,  while  the  digestive  tract  is  generally  shorter 
and  simpler  in  the  flesh-eating  and  fish-eating  species.  All 
the  processes  of  digestion  are  remarkably  rapid.  The  sali- 
vary glands,  the  liver  and  the  pancreas  all  quickly  pour  their 
copious  secretions  into  the  alimentary  canal ;  the  food  is 
chylified  after  impregnation  with  the  biliary  and  pancreatic 


tary  canal  of  Blue- 
bird, reduced;  after 
Audubon.  a,  b,  gul- 
let or  oesophagus;  c, 
proventriculus;  d, 
gizzard;  e,  f,  h,  in- 
testine;  »,  cloaca. 


42  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


fluids  ;  the  chyle  is  drawn  off  by  the  lacteals,  and  the  residue 
is  excreted.  The  vigor,  perfection,  and  rapidity  of  these 
processes  in  insect-eating  birds  are  such  as  might  be  expected 
among  animals  of  such  high  temperature,  perfect  respiration, 
and  rapid  circulation. 

The  various  dilations  of  the  digestive  tract  serve  well  their 
purpose  of  enabling  the  bird  to  consume  the  large  amount 
of  food  necessary  for  its  maintenance.  Digestion  is  partic- 
ularly rapid  in  the  growing  young  of  most  birds,  for  they 
require  not  only  food  sufficient  to  sustain  life,  but  an  extra 
supply  as  well  to  enable  them  to  increase  daily  in  size,  and 
to  grow,  in  a  few  days,  those  wonderful  appendages  that  we 
call  feathers. 

The    Growth    of   Young    Birds. 

The  growth  of  many  birds  from  the  egg  to  the  hour  of 
flight  requires  less  time  than  is  needed  by  some  insects  to 
reach  the  flight  stage.  It  is  most  significant  that  young  birds 
can  develop  as  rapidly  as  can  many  in- 
sects on  which  they  feed,  for  it  shows  how 
readily,  under  favorable  conditions,  the 
increase  of  birds  might  keep  proportion- 
ate pace  with  that  of  insects.  Weed  and 
Dearborn,  in  their  interesting  manual,  en- 

titled  "Birds  in  their  Relations  to  ^n," 
naked,  blind,  and  help-    state  that  they  watched  four  young  Sons: 

less,  with  mouth  open     o  , ,      '  ,.  , , 

for  food.    Reduced;    Sparrows  that  were  out  of  the  nest  on  the 
after  iierrk-k.  eighth  day.     Mr.  Owen  records  another 

instance  where  a  brood  of  young  Song  Sparrows  were 
fledged  and  left  the  nest  within  the  same  period.1  Probably 
this  is  exceptional ;  but  many  of  the  smaller  birds  rear  their 
young  from  the  egg  to  the  first  flight  within  two  or  three 
weeks.  Mr.  Owen  found  that  on  one  particular  day  this 
family  of  five  young  Song  Sparrows  increased  in  average 
weight  forty-eight  per  cent.,  while  the  smallest  bird  gained 
fifty-five  per  cent,  in  a  single  day. 

The  young  of  perching  birds  (Insessores)  come  into  the 
world  tiny  creatures,  either  naked  or  covered  Avith  down, 

1  A  Family  of  Nestlings,  by  D.  E.  Owen.  The  Auk,  Vol.  XVI,  No.  3,  July, 
1899,  pp.  221-225. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN. 


43 


blind,  and  helpless  ;  yet  in  a  few  days,  or  at  most  a  few 
weeks,  they  have  grown  to  nearly  the  size  of  their  parents, 
and  produced  a  perfect 
suit  of  feathers,  including 
the  strong  quills  of  wings 
and  tail.  In  a  few  weeks 
more  they  are  able  to 
begin  a  journey  of  hun- 
dreds or  thousands  of 
miles  over  land  and  sea, 
in  their  first  migration. 

The  young  of  prsecocial 
birds,  such  as  Grouse, 
S  n  i  p  e  and  Plover,  are 
able  to  run  about  soon 
after  they  are  hatched. 

Young  GrOUSe  learn  tO  fly    pig.  19.  —  Young  Cedar  Birds,  less  than  three 

when  quite  small,  but  they  weeks  old' 

develop  more  slowly  than  do  the  young  of  the  smaller 
altricial  birds.  It  is  difficult,  therefore,  to  determine  the 

amount  of  food  they 
require,  as  they  leave 
the  nest  at  once  and 
wander  from  place  to 
place,  picking  up 
their  own  food. 

The  young  of  the 
altricial  perching 
birds,  however,  re- 
main quite  helpless  in 
the  nest  until  nearly 
fledged,  affording  an 

Fig.  2O.  —  Young  Grouse,  just  from  the  egg,  but  able    excellent  Opportunity 

towalk-  for    the    investigator 

to  determine  the  amount  and  character  of  their  food,  and 
to  watch  the  progress  of  their  development.  We  can  learn 
how  much  food  such  young  birds  require  by  feeding  them 
in  confinement. 


44 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


The   Amount   of  Food   required   by  Young   Birds. 
It  seems  necessary  to  the  health  and  comfort  of  the  nest- 
ling bird  that  its  stomach  be  filled  with  food  during  most 
of  the  day.     Nearly  half  a  century  ago  Prof.  D.  Treadwell 

called  attention  to  the  great 
food  requirements  of  the 
young  Robin.  TAVO  young 
birds  from  the  nest  were 
selected  for  his  experiment. 
One  soon  died  of  starvation, 
as  the  supply  of  food  given 
them  at  first  was  much  too 
small.  The  food  of  the  re- 
maining bird  was  gradually 
Fig.  21.  -  A  young  Woodcock,  ready  to  increased  from  day  to  day, 

leave  the  nest.  J  *] 

until  on  the  seventh  day  it 

was  given  thirty-one  angleworms ;  but  there  was  no  increase 
in  its  Aveight  until,  on  the  fourteenth  day,  it  received  sixty- 
eight  worms,  Aveighing,  all  told,  thirty-four  pennyweights.1 

Later  the  same  bird  ate 
nearly  one-half  its  own 
Aveight  of  beef  in  a  day. 
A  young  man  eating  at 
this  rate  Avould  consume 
about  seventy  pounds  of 
beefsteak  daily.  The 
Robin  even  when  full 
grown  required  one-third 
of  its  weight  of  beef 

(J.iily  Fig.  22.  —  Young  Robins,  in  the  nest. 

Mr.  Charles  "W.  Nash  fed  a  young  Robin  from  fifty  to 
seventy  cutworms  and  earthworms  a  day  for  fifteen  days. 
While  experimenting  to  see  hoAV  many  cutworms  the  bird 
would  eat  in  a  day,  he  fed  it  five  and  one-half  ounces  of  this 
food,  or  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  cutworms.  As  the 
Robin  Aveighed  but  three  ounces  in  the  morning,  it  must 


1  The  Food  of  Young  Robins,  by  D.  Treadwell.    Proceedings  of  the  Boston 
Society  of  Natural  History,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  396-399. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  45 

have  eaten,  during  the  day,  a  quantity  one  and  five-sixths 
times  its  own  weight.1 

Three  voung  liobins,  about  ten  days  old,  fed  by  their 
parents,  were  watched  by  Weed  and  Dearborn.  By  an  in- 
genious method  of  weighing  and  calculating,  the  observers 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  apparently  there  was  eaten  a 
daily  amount  equal  to  more  than  half  the  birds'  own  weight.2 

Mr.  Daniel  E.  Owen  kept  a  young  Hermit  Thrush,  which 
ate  regularly  half  its  weight  of  raw  steak  daily,  and  would, 
he  says,  probably  have  eaten  as  much  more  had  it  been  fed 
oftener.3 

In  1895  two  young  Crows  were  kept  and  fed  by  Messrs. 
A.  H.  Kirkland  and  H.  A.  Ballou,  then  my  assistants,  from 
August  7  to  September  2,  when  one  bird  was  killed  by 
accident.  The  survivor  was  kept  until  September  14,  when 
it  wras  killed  to  determine  some  points  regarding  digestion. 
These  birds  were  confined  in  a  large  cage  or  enclosure  in  an 
insectarv,  and  were  also  allowed  access  during  the  dav  to 
an  enclosed  yard,  which  they  reached  through  the  window. 
This  gave  them  considerable  exercise. 

A  careful  record  was  kept  of  most  of  their  food.  Never- 
theless, they  occasionally  picked  up  some  sprouted  grain  in 
the  yard,  and  probably  a  few  insects  that  could  not  be  re- 
corded or  weighed.  For  this  reason  the  quantity  of  the  daily 
food  supply  recorded  is  probably,  on  the  average,  too  low, 
or,  in  other  words,  on  the  safe  side.  Some  of  the  smaller 
animals  fed  to  the  birds  (toads,  frogs,  and  salamanders)  were 
not  always  weighed,  but  they  were  measured  and  could  be 
compared  with  others  of  known  weight,  so  that  the  weight 
was  approximated  closely. 

The  birds  were  well  grown  when  they  were  first  received ; 
but  the  amount  of  food  at  first  given  them  probably  was  not 
sufficient  for  their  needs,  as  their  weight  did  not  increase, 
although  they  were  fed  a  variety  of  both  vegetal  and  animal 

1  Birds  of  Ontario  in  their  Relation  to  Agriculture,  by  Charles  W.  Nash. 
Toronto,  Department  of  Agriculture,  1898,  p.  22. 

2  Birds  in  their  Relations  to  Man,  by  Clarence  M.  Weed  and  Ned  Dearborn, 
1903,  p.  (35. 

3  Notes  on  a  Captive  Hermit  Thrush,  by  Daniel  E.  Owen.     The  Auk,  Vol. 
XIV,  No.  1,  January,  1897,  pp.  1-8. 


46  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


food.  They  were  designated  by  number.  On  August  20 
No.  1  weighed  seventeen  ounces  and  No.  2  fourteen  ounces. 
That  day  the  two  birds  had  two  ounces  of  tomato,  five  ounces 
of  sweet  corn,  fifty  grasshoppers  (about  three-fourths  of  an 
ounce),  — in  all,  nearly  eight  ounces,  —  and  they  also  had  free 
access  to  some  grain  in  the  yard.  As  their  weight  remained 
the  same,  they  were  fed  the  next  day  one-half  ounce  of 
tomato,  one  ounce  of  corn,  one  ounce  of  muskmeloii,  five 
ounces  of  meat,  one  ounce  of  beets,  and  fifty  grasshoppers, 
—  in  all,  fully  nine  ounces.  An  apple  also  was  eaten  to 
some  extent,  and  there  was  still  some  grain  in  the  yard. 
Nevertheless,  each  bird  lost  about  an  ounce  in  weight  that 
day. 

They  were  fed  at  about  the  same  rate  the  following  day, 
and,  as  they  were  losing  weight,  they  were  given  on  the 
23d  two  ounces  of  melon,  all  the  grasshoppers  that  could  be 
collected  near  their  place  of  confinement,  four  frogs,  a  sala- 
mander, two  ounces  of  tomato,  and  five  ounces  of  corn.  On 
this  diet  the  Crows  regained  some  of  the  weight  they  had 
lost,  Aveighing  the  next  morning  sixteen  and  one-half  and 
thirteen  and  one-half  ounces  respectively.  On  the  24th  they 
were  fed  more  than  twelve  ounces,  and  the  larger  bird  lost 
half  an  ounce  and  the  smaller  gained  about  the  same  weight. 
On  the  25th  they  received  over  seventeen  ounces  of  food, 
the  smaller  bird  gaining  another  half  ounce  and  the  larger 
bird  remaining  the  same.  No.  1  now  weighed  sixteen  ounces 
and  No.  2  fourteen  and  one-half  ounces.  The  next  day, 
with  twelve  ounces  of  food,  the  smaller  bird  lost  one-half 
ounce  and  the  larger  bird  made  no  gain.  Evidently  Avhere 
any  gain  was  made  by  one  bird  on  this  amount  of  food  the 
bird  either  got  more  than  its  share,  or  found  some  food  in 
the  yard. 

On  August  28  nearly  twenty-seven  ounces  of  food  were 
given.  This  was  all  vegetal  matter  except  thirty  grass- 
hoppers (one-third  of  an  ounce).  It  was  all  eaten,  and 
apparently  all  needed,  for  neither  bird  increased  in  weight, 
No.  1  losing  half  an  ounce.  It  seemed  evident  throughout 
the  experiment  that  the  birds  required  much  animal  food, 
and  when  vegetal  food  alone  was  given,  a  larger  amount 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  47 

than  usual  was  needed.  The  next  day  about  twenty  ounces 
of  food,  containing  a  large  proportion  of  animal  matter,  were 
given  ;  and  on  August  30  the  larger  bird  had  again  regained 
its  weight  of  seventeen  ounces,  while  the  other  held  its  own. 
So  far  the  experiment  seemed  to  show  that  when  they  were 
fed  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  ounces  of  a  ration  containing 
both  animal  and  vegetable  food  the  birds  held  their  own  or 
gained  slightly  ;  but  if  fed  less  than  twenty  ounces  of  this 
ration,  one  or  both  of  the  birds  fell  off  in  weight. 

After  the  death  of  one  bird  the  other  and  all  its  food  were 
weighed  daily.  All  opportunity  to  secure  scattered  grain  or 
other  food  than  that  weighed  was  denied.  The  greatest 
weight  reached  by  this  bird  was  eighteen  and  one-half  ounces 
on  September  13,  on  which  date  it  was  fed  as  much  corn, 
cucumber,  and  tomato  as  it  cared  to  eat,  also  a  frog,  two 
toads,  twenty-seven  grasshoppers,  thirty-one  borers,  eight 
beetles,  and  eighteen  crickets.  The  record  of  the  twelve 
days  during  which  this  bird  was  alone  seems  to  show  that 
less  than  eight  ounces  of  food  daily  was  hardly  sufficient  for 
its  needs,  as  on  a  less  amount  it  tended  to  lose  in  weight, 
while  when  the  amount  was  increased  to  ten  ounces  or  more 
the  tendency  toward  a  daily  gain  in  weight  was  marked. 

When  the  quantity  of  food  given  these  birds  was  largely 
reduced  in  any  one  day,  there  was  a  corresponding  reduction 
in  their  weight.  On  September  13  the  larger  Crow  was  given 
only  two  ounces  of  tomato,  fifty-six  grasshoppers,  twelve 
crickets,  and  a  little  grain,  —  in  all,  not  much  over  three 
ounces  of  food.  The  next  morning  it  had  lost  one  and 
one-half  ounces  in  weight.  The  fact  that  a  bird,  while  in 
confinement  and  without  a  great  amount  of  exercise,  could 
lose  nearly  ten  per  cent,  of  its  weight  in  a  single  day,  even 
when  fed  a  quantit}r  of  food  equal  to  about  one-sixth  its 
weight,  shows  how  dependent  birds  are  upon  their  supply 
of  food. 

If  this  single  experiment  can  be  regarded  as  conclusive, 
we  may  assume  that  young  Crows,  when  fledged,  absolutely 
require  a  daily  amount  of  food  equal  to  about  one-half  their 
own  weight ;  and  it  is  evident  that  they  will  consume  much 
more  than  this  to  their  own  advantage  if  they  can  get  it.  It 


48  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


seems  quite  probable  that  a  young  bird  at  liberty,  depend- 
ing largely  on  its  own  exertions  to  procure  food,  and  thus 
exercising  more  than  in  confinement,  would  require  still 
more  food  to  repair  the  consequent  extra  waste  of  the 
tissues. 

Others  have  made  similar  experiments  with  Crows  in  con- 
finement. Samuels  says  that  he  has  kept  specimens  in  cap- 
tivity, and  has  proved  by  observation  that  at  least  eight 
ounces  of  such  food  as  frogs,  fish,  etc.,  are  eaten  daily  by 
our  common  Crow.  He  says  that  a  Crow  can  live  on  a  very 
limited  allowance,  but  believes  eight  ounces  to  be  a  reasonable 
amount.  He  leaves  us  to  infer  that  he  is  speaking  of  adult 
Crows,  which  undoubtedly  require  less  food  than  their  grow- 
ing young.1 

Weed  and  Dearborn  kept  a  wounded  adult  Crow  in  a  small 
box,  twelve  by  thirteen  by  twenty  inches.  In  these  cramped 
quarters,  where  the  bird  could  hardly  stretch  its  wings,  it 
ate  fish  for  three  days  in  succession  at  the  rate  of  four  and 
eighty-three  hundredths  ounces  per  day,  —  more  than  a 
quarter  of  its  own  weight,  or  about  half  what  our  young 
Crows  ordinarily  required.2 

Probably  the  amount  of  food  eaten  by  this  captive  bears 
about  the  same  proportion  to  the  quantity  eaten  by  a  vigor- 
ous Crow  at  liberty  that  the  food  taken  by  a  prisoner  in 
solitary  confinement,  or  that  consumed  by  a  sedentary  clerk, 
bears  to  the  amount  required  by  a  strong  man  at  hard  labor, 
or  by  a  prize-fighter  in  training. 

The  amount  of  food  taken  by  young  birds  could  not  be 
disposed  of  by  such  limited  powers  of  digestion  as  are  given 
to  other  animals.  What  a  wonderful  contrast  is  presented 
between  the  quantity  of  food  required  by  the  hot-blooded, 
quick-pulsing,  active  bird,  and  that  needed  by  the  cold- 
blooded vertebrates.  Many  reptiles  can  live  for  months 
without  food.  Even  some  of  the  mammals  do  not  eat  at 
all  during  their  hibernation. 

1  Birds  of  New  England,  by  Edward  A.  Samuels,  1870,  p.  359. 

2  Birds  in  their  Relations  to  Man,  by  Clarence  M.  Weed  and  Ned  Dearborn, 
1903,  p.  61. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN. 


49 


The   Time   required   for   Assimilation   of  Food. 

If  we  assume  that  the  stomach  and  oesophagus  of  a  young 
Crow  can  contain  but  an  ounce  of  food,  then  the  bird  would 
be  required  to  digest  from  eight  to  twelve  meals  a  day, 
according  to  its  appetite  and  opportunity.  The  question  at 
once  arises,  How  can  any  digestive  system  complete  such  a 
task?  Experiments  were  made  with  our  young  Crows  to 
determine  the  time  required  for 
digestion.  The  birds  were  kept 
without  food  until  the  stomach 
and  intestines  were  empty . 
They  were  then  fed  insects'  eggs, 
in  the  belief  that  some  parts  of 
the  shells  would  escape  the  grind- 
ing processes  of  the  stomach  and 
be  voided  in  the  excreta.  Sub- 
sequent occurrences  justified  this 
belief.  Ten  experiments  of  this 
kind  were  made  with  the  two 
birds. 

From  the  time  Avhen  the  birds 
began  to  feed  until  the  time  when  the  first  eggshells  were 
dropped  in  the  excreta  there  elapsed,  on  the  average,  one 
hour,  twenty-nine  minutes  and  forty-five  seconds.  The 
shortest  time  was  forty-eight  minutes,  and  the  longest  one 
hour  and  fifty-four  minutes.  This,  it  should  be  noted,  was 
not  merely  the  time  that  the  food  remained  in  the  stomach, 
but  the  full  interval  occupied  in  digesting  and  assimilating 
it,  for  within  this  period  at  least  a  part  of  the  food  had 
passed  the  entire  digestive  tract. 

In  most  cases  all  evidence  of  the  food  used  in  the  experi- 
ment had  disappeared  from  the  excreta  in  from  two  to  two 
and  one-half  hours.  If  we  contrast  this  with  the  slower 
digestion  of  man,  we  shall  see  how  birds  readily  dispose  of 
more  meals  each  day  than  a  man  is  capable  of  digesting.  To 
learn  how  long  food  remains  in  a  Crow's  stomach,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  kill  a  large  number  of  Crows,  each  being  killed 
at  a  longer  or  shorter  interval  after  it  had  filled  its  empty 


Fig.  23.  — Young  Crows,  well 
fledsred. 


50  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


stomach.  I  am  not  aware  that  this  has  ever  been  done,  but 
have  no  doubt  that  the  majority  of  the  farmers  of  Massachu- 
setts would  not  object  to  the  destruction  of  a  considerable 
number  of  young  Crows  for  this  purpose,  or  any  other. 

The  Crow  which  was  accidentally  killed  had  fed  freely 
upon  grasshoppers  for  twenty  minutes,  and  died  ten  minutes 
after  the  close  of  the  feeding  period.  An  examination  of 
the  alimentary  canal  showed  the  stomach  to  be  quite  full, 
but  less  than  fifty  per  cent,  of  its  contents,  consisting  mainly 
of  the  hard  parts  of  wings,  thoraces,  and  legs,  was  in  a  con- 
dition to  be  recognized.  The  strongly  chitinized  pronota 
and  hind  femora  of  the  grasshoppers  offered  the  most  resist- 
ance to  the  digestive  processes.  The  other  fifty  per  cent, 
of  the  stomach  contents  had  been  so  finely  divided,  in  the 
very  brief  time  that  it  had  been  in  that  receptacle,  that  one 
would  hardly  have  cared  to  express  a  positive  opinion  as 
to  its  identity.  This  condition  of  stomach  contents  is  not 
unusual.  In  examining  the  contents  of  birds'  stomachs  we 
often  find  more  than  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  food  so  finely 
comminuted  and  mixed  as  to  be  practically  unrecognizable. 
The  presence  of  insects  in  a  bird's  stomach  is  sometimes  made 
known  by  a  mere  mandible  or  some  other  recognizable  por- 
tion, which  has  resisted  for  a  time  the  grinding  of  this  remark- 
able digestive  organ.  It  is  significant,  however,  that,  in  the 
thirty  minutes  intervening  between  the  beginning  of  a  feeding 
period  and  death,  the  stomach  had  thoroughly  pulverized 
half  the  food  eaten. 

This  experiment  was  carried  further  with  the  second  Crow. 
On  September  14  the  only  food  materials  given  the  bird  were 
six  crickets  and  eleven  grasshoppers.  These  it  ate  within 
four  minutes,  and  thirty  minutes  later  it  was  killed. 

Only  about  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  stomach  contents 
was  recognizable,  but  this  is  not  all.  The  alimentary  canal 
was  thirty-six  inches  in  length,  and  in  the  intestine  at  a 
distance  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  inches  from  the  stomach, 
and  again  at  twenty-five  to  twenty-eight  inches  from  that 
organ ,  were  found  a  few  small  pieces  of  the  fore  wings  of  the 
grasshoppers.  As  the  bird  had  not  been  fed  since  4  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  previous  day,  these  remains  probably 


PLATE    IV.  —  Red-eyed  Vireo  feeding  Young.     (Photograph  by 
C.  A.  Eeed.) 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  51 

came  from  the  insects  fed  to  it  not  more  than  thirty-three 
minutes  before  it  was  killed. 

In  summing  up  the  results,  Mr.  Kirkland  says  :  "I  think, 
from  what  we  have  seen,  that  we  might  expect  to  find  the 
gizzard  empty  in  from  one  to  one  and  one-half  hours." 

Such  an  experiment  should  be  carried  further,  but  enough 
was  learned  to  show  that  the  stomach  of  a  young  Crow  prob- 
ably can  be  filled  with  food  and  emptied  of  the  digested 
material  from  eight  to  twelve  times  a  day  during  the  long 
days  of  midsummer,  when  their  appetites  are  at  their  best. 

Digestion  in  some  of  the  smaller  birds  is  doubtless  even 
more  rapid,  for  they  are  enabled  to  dispose  of  a  still  larger 
amount  of  food  in  proportion  to  their  size.  Mr.  Owen  in- 
forms us  that  the  time  required  for  a  blueberry  to  traverse 
the  digestive  tract  of  his  Hermit  Thrush  was  practically  an 
hour  and  a  half.  Mr.  C.  J.  Maynard  once  told  me  that  in 
a  similar  experiment  a  Cedar  Bird  passed  the  residue  of  food 
within  thirty  minutes  after  the  food  was  taken.  Weed  and 
Dearborn  found  that  a  blackberry  was  digested  by  a  young 
Cedar  Bird  in  half  an  hour. 

The    Number   of   Insects    eaten   by   Young   Birds    in   the    Nest. 

The  remarkable  appetites  of  young  birds  keep  their  de- 
voted parents  very  busy  supplying  food  most  of  the  time 
from  morning  till  night.  The  mother  bird  spends  practically 
all  her  time  either  in  searching  for  food,  brooding,  protect- 
ing, and  feeding  the  young,  or  cleaning  the  nest  (for  all  the 
smaller  birds  that  nest  openly  are  obliged  to  dispose  of  the 
excreta  of  their  young,  that  it  may  neither  befoul  the  nest 
nor  betray  its  location  to  their  enemies).  Most  of  the  visits 
made  by  the  old  birds  to  the  nest  during  the  day  are  for  the 
dual  purpose  of  feeding  the  young  and  keeping  the  nest 
clean.  Eecords  kept  of  the  number  of  these  visits  show 
the  industry  of  the  parent  birds  and  the  food  capacity  of 
the  young. 

My  assistant,  Mr.  F.  H.  Mosher,  watched  a  pair  of  Red- 
eyed  Vireos  feeding  their  young  on  June  13,  1899.  There 
were  three  nestlings,  about  one  day  old.  At  this  early  age 
the  young  of  most  small  birds  are  fed  mainly  by  regur- 


52 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


gitation.  The  parent  birds  swallow  the  food,  and  probably 
soften  or  partly  digest  it,  ejecting  it  afterwards  through  their 
own  mouths  into  the  open  mouths  of  the  young.  No  attempt 
was  made,  therefore,  in  this  case,  to  determine  the  character 
or  amount  of  the  food,  for  fear  of  disturbing  the  parents  and 
interrupting  the  regularity  of  the  feeding.  The  birds  were 
fed  between  7  and  8  A.M.  four- 
teen times;  between  8  and  9, 
nine  times ;  between  9  and  10, 
twelve  times ;  between  10  and 
11,  seven  times;  between  11 
and  12,  sixteen  times  ;  between 
12  and  1,  nine  times  ;  between  1 
and  2,  twelve  times ;  between 

2  and  3,  fifteen  times ;  between 

3  and  4,  thirteen  times  ;  and  be- 
tween 4  and  5,  eighteen  times. 

It  will  be  seen  that  one  or 
the  other  parent  came  to  the 
nest  Avith  food  one  hundred  and 

Fig.  24. -Passenger  Pigeon  feeding      twenty-five    times    in    ten    hoUl'S, 
by  regulation.    From  Samuels.         eyen     when      the     observei.      was 

Avatching  near  by  ;  but  this  leaves  four  hours  unaccounted 
for,  to  fill  out  the  long  June  day,  from  daAvn  to  evening. 
The  feeding  periods  averaged  less  than  six  minutes  apart  dur- 
ing the  time  the  birds  Avere  watched  ;  so  it  seems  probable 
that,  had  the  entire  record  for  the  day  been  kept,  at  least 
one  hundred  and  fifty  visits  to  the  young  Avould  have  been 
recorded.  Young  birds  are  fed  oftenest  at  morning  and  even- 
ing, or  during  the  hours  Avhen  these  Vireos  Avere  not  watched. 
Mr.  Mosher  Avatched  a  pair  of  Rose-breasted  Grosbeaks 
feeding  their  young  on  June  12,  1899.  The  young  Avere 
nearly  ready  to  leave  the  nest,  as  one  of  them  stood  on  a 
branch  near  its  edge.  The  nest  Avas  situated  about  fifteen 
feet  from  the  ground,  in  the  top  of  a  slender  Avhite  birch  in 
the  Avoods.  The  ground  Avas  Avell  covered  with  hazel  bushes 
about  three  and  one-half  feet  high,  which  nearly  concealed 
the  observer.  During  the  first  half  hour  he  made  no  record, 
as  the  birds  were  alarmed  by  his  presence.  As  they  com- 


VALl'E    OF   HI  LIDS    TO    MAX. 


menced  bringing  food  regularly,  he  began  the  record  at  (j 
A.M.  Between  (5  and  7  they  came  to  the  nest  fifty-two  times  ; 
between  7  and  8,  forty-seven  times  ;  between  8  and  9,  forty- 
three  times;  between  9  and  10,  thirty  times;  between  10 
and  11,  thirty-six  times ;  between  11  and  12,  twenty-seven 
times;  between  12  and  1,  thirty -two  times;  between  1  and 
2,  thirty-eight  times  ;  between  2  and  3,  forty-one  times ; 
between  3  and  4,  twenty-two  times  ;  between  4  and  f),  fifty- 
eight  times.  The  majority  of  the  larvae  seemed  to  be  leaf 
rollers  from  the  oak  trees.  The  female  came  on  the  average 
about  three  times  to  each  two  visits  of  the  male  ;  he  was 
occupied  much  of  the  time  in  keeping  other  birds  away  from 
the  vicinity  of  the  nest. 

When  the  young  of  most  insect-eating  birds  are  well  grown, 
the  parents  feed  them  whole  insects  just  as  they  are  picked 
up.  With  a  glass,  therefore,  the  insects  brought  by  these 
Grosbeaks  could  be  seen  in  the  birds'  beaks.  Their  lusty 
youngsters  were  fed  almost  entirely  on  insect  larva;  or  cater- 
pillars taken  from  the  forest  trees.  On  only  four  visits  did 
either  parent  bird  bring  less  than  two  larva;  each.  In  eleven 
hours,  then,  they  made  four  hundred  and  twenty-six  trips, 
and  must  have  fed  their  nestlings  at  least  eight  hundred  and 
forty-eight  larvte  or  caterpillars,  and  possibly  more,  as  a  bird 
has  been  observed  to  carry  as  many  as  eleven  small  cater- 
pillars on  one  visit  to  its  young. 

In  comparing  the  records  of  the  two  nests  as  given  above, 
it  is  noticeable  that  the  Grosbeaks  fed  the  young  much  oftener 
than  did  the  Yireos.  This  difference  is  due  mainly  to  the 
fact  that  about  the  time  the  young  birds  are  read}'  to  fly, 
as  were  these  Grosbeaks,  they  require  much  more  food  than 
when  first  hatched,  as  was  the  case  with  the  Vireos.  This, 
of  course,  is  mainly  owing  to  their  increased  size.  The  dif- 
ference in  the  number,  age,  and  size  of  the  young  probably 
accounts  largely  for  the  great  variation  in  the  number  of 
visits  made  to  them  by  the  parent  birds,  as  recorded  by  dif- 
ferent observers. 

I  have  published  some  notes  on  the  feeding  of  young 
Chickadees  by  the  parent  birds.  Six  visits  were  made  to 
these  young  within  thirteen  minutes.  In  each  case  the  bills 


54  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


of  the  parent  birds  were  filled  with  a  mass  of  small  insects, 
mainly  ants  and  plant  lice,  to  which  were  added  a  few  spiders. 
These  young  were  also  fully  fledged.1 

The  number  of  young  in  the  nests  of  the  smaller  perch- 
ing birds  is  usually  from  three  to  five.  In  the  case  of  the 
Chickadees  mentioned  above  there  were  seven,  and  in  another 
case  that  I  have  recently  observed  there  were  nine.  Chick- 
adees and  AVrens,  because  of  their  insectivorous  habits  and 
the  large  broods  they  rear,  probably  reach  the  maximum  in 
the  number  of  insects  brought  to  their  young. 

Dr.  Judd  gives  an  account  of  the  feeding  of  some  young 
House  Wrens  by  the  mother  bird  alone.  These  young  Wrens 
were  about  three-fourths  grown,  and  were  visited  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  times  in  four  hours  and  thirty-seven  minutes. 
They  were  fed,  during  this  time,  one  hundred  and  eleven 
insects  and  spiders.  Among  these  were  identified  one  white 
grub,  one  soldier  bug,  three  millers  (Xoctuidaj),  nine  spiders, 
nine  grasshoppers,  fifteen  May  flies,  and  thirty-four  cater- 
pillars. On  the  following  day,  in  three  hours  and  five  min- 
utes, the  young  were  fed  sixty-seven  times.2 

Professor  Aughey  states  that  during  a  locust  year  in 
Nebraska  he  saw  a  pair  of  Long-billed  Marsh  Wrens  take 
thirty-one  small  locusts  to  their  nest  in  an  hour.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  note  that  a  pair  of  Rock  Wrens  that  he  watched 
took  just  thirty-two  locusts  to  their  nest  in  another  hour.3 

Another  observer  is  reported  by  Dr.  Barton  to  have  seen 
a  pair  of  Wrens  coming  from  their  box  and  returning  with 
insects  from  forty  to  sixty  times  an  hour.  In  an  exceptional 
hour  they  carried  food  seventy-one  times.  He  estimates 
that  at  that  time  they  took  from  the  garden  six  hundred 
insects  per  day.4 

Few  people,  unfortunately,  who  are  qualified  for  the  task, 

1  Two  Years  with  the  Birds  on  a  Farm.    Annual  report  of  the  Massachusetts 
State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1902,  p.  129. 

2  The  Birds  of  a  Maryland  Farm,  by  Sylvester  D.  Judd.     Bulletin  No.  17, 
United    States    Department   of   Agriculture,    Division    of   Biological    Survey, 
pp.  45,  46. 

8  Notes  on  the  Nature  of  the  Food  of  Nebraska  Birds,  by  S.  A.  Aughey.  First 
Report  of  the  United  States  Entomological  Commission,  1877,  Appendix,  p.  18. 

4  Fragments  of  the  Natural  History  of  Pennsylvania,  by  Dr.  B.  S.  Barton, 
Part  I,  1799,  p.  22. 


PLATE  V.  —  Chickadee.  Female,  with  mass  of  insects  in  her 
beak,  entering  nesting  box  at  author's  window.  (From  Ameri- 
can Ornithology.) 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN. 


55 


have  both  the  time  and  patience  to  watch  the  feeding  of  young 
birds  for  an  entire  day.  Dr.  C.  M.  Weed  and  Mr.  W.  F. 
Fiske,  however,  have  accomplished  this  feat.  They  watched 
the  nest  of  a  Chipping  Sparrow  from  3.40  A.M.  to  7.49  P.M. 
on  June  22,  1898.  The  valuable  record  of  these  observations 


Fig.  26.— Chipping  Sparrow  feeding  young. 

shows  that  these  two  birds,  having  only  three  young  in  the 
nest,  visited  it  at  least  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  times 
during  that  day ;  and  Dr.  Weed  says  that  they  made  almost 
two  hundred  trips,  although  some  of  the  trips  evidently  were 
made  to  furnish  grit  for  grinding  the  food.  The  birds  were 
busy  from  daylight  to  dark,  with  no  long  intermission.  The 
food,  so  far  as  identified,  consisted  largely  of  caterpillars. 
Crickets  and  crane  flies  were  seen,  and  it  was  believed  that 
a  great  variety  of  insect  food  was  brought. l 

A  committee  on  useful  birds,  selected  from  the  Pennsyl- 
vania State  Board  of  Agriculture,  reported  that  an  observer 
had  watched  the  nest  of  a  pair  of  Martins  for  sixteen  hours, 
from  4  A.M.  until  8  P.M.,  to  see  how  many  visits  the  parent 
birds  made  to  the  young.  One  hundred  and  nineteen  visits 
were  made  by  the  male  and  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  by 
the  female.2 


1  The  Feeding  Habits  of  the  Chipping  Sparrow,  by  C.  M.  Weed.     Bulletin 
No.  55,  New  Hampshire  College  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  1898. 

2  C.  C.  Musselman,  in  Agriculture  of  Pennsylvania,  1887,  p.  105. 


56  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


The  number  of  insects  consumed  daily  by  young  birds  in 
their  nests  is  difficult  of  estimation,  because  of  the  variation 
in  size  among  insects  and  the  great  difference  in  size  between 
the  mature  insect  and  the  newly  hatched  larva.  Five  hun- 
dred of  the  young  larvre  of  a  moth  might  occupy  less  space 
in  the  stomach  of  a  bird  than  would  the  moth  itself ;  while  a 
thousand  aphids  might  take  no  more  room  than  a  full-grown 
caterpillar.  Nevertheless,  many  estimates  have  been  made, 
based  on  known  data,  as  to  the  number  of  insects  fed  to 
young  birds. 

The  introduced  House  Sparrow  (Passer  domesticus),  com- 
monly called  the  English  Sparrow,  undoubtedly  eats  fewer 
insects,  here,  in  proportion  to  the  rest  of  its  food  than  any  of 
our  smaller  native  birds.  The  young  are  fed  very  largely  on 
grain  and  other  non-insectivorous  food.  Still,  a  Sparrow's 
nest  in  the  city  of  Paris  is  said  to  have  contained  seven  hun- 
dred pairs  of  chafer  wing-cases.1 

Mons.  P.  Pelicot  gives  a  table  of  the  estimates,  made  by 
several  foreign  authors,  of  the  numbers  of  insects  eaten  by 
Sparrows  in  a  given  time.  These  approximations  vary  from 
that  of  Blatin,  who  estimates  that  two  Sparrows  will  destroy 
twelve  hundred  chafers  in  twelve  days,  to  that  of  Tschudi, 
who  believes  that  a  single  Sparrow  will  destroy  fifteen  hun- 
dred larvte  within  twenty-four  hours.2 

Bradley  mentions  watching  a  bird's  nest  and  discovering 
that  five  hundred  caterpillars  were  consumed  in  one  day.3 
He  says  (according  to  Samuels)  that  a  pair  of  Sparrows 
will  destroy  thirty-three  hundred  and  sixty  caterpillars  for 
a  week's  family  supplies.  A  single  pair  of  Sparrows  is 
reported  to  have  carried  to  the  nest  five  hundred  insects  in 
an  hour. 

These  statements  may  be  exaggerated,  but  if  they  approx- 
imate the  facts,  what  immense  numbers  of  insects  must  be 

1  Notes  on  Recent  Progress  of  Agricultural  Science,  by  David  A.  Wells.    Re- 
port (on  Agriculture)  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Patents,  1861,  p.  323. 

2  A  Favorable  View  of  the  English  Sparrow,  a  Review  of  "Un  Passereau 
a  Prote'ger,"  Insect  Life,  Riley  and  Howard,  Vol.  IV,  1891,  p.  153,  published  by 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 

3  Birds  and  Bird  Laws,  by  J.  R.  Dodge.    Annual  Report  of  the  United  States 
Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  1864,  pp.  436,  437. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  57 

consumed  by  the  young  of  native  Massachusetts  birds  that 
are  fed  almost  entirely  upon  insect  food. 

Weed  and  Dearborn  watched  three  young  Cedar  Birds  in 
the  nest  for  the  fifteen  days  they  remained  there,  and  found 
that  they  each  devoured  not  less  than  ten  ounces  of  food  in 
that  time,  or  more  than  ten  times  their  weight  on  the  day 
they  left  the  nest. 

The    Amount   of  Food   eaten   by   Adult   Birds. 

There  is  no  way  of  determining  how  much  food  is  required 
daily  by  the  adult  bird,  except  it  be  kept  in  confinement ;  in 
that  case,  the  food  taken  can  be  weighed  or  measured.  This 
has  been  done.  Dr.  Stanley  mentions  sixteen  Canaries  which 
ate  one  hundred  grains  of  food  per  day,  or  an  amount  equal 
to  about  one-sixth  of  their  weight,  which  is  probably  much 
less  than  wild  birds  of  the  same  species  would  eat.1  Seed- 
eating  birds,  like  the  Canary,  however,  require  less  food 
than  the  insectivorous  species,  as  their  food  is  more  con- 
centrated. Mr.  Robert  Ridgway,  the  distinguished  ornithol- 
ogist of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  makes  the  statement  in 
the  American  Naturalist  for  August,  1869,  that  a  Western 
Kingbird  (Tyrannus  verticalis},  which  he  kept  in  a  cage, 
devoured  one  hundred  and  twenty  locusts  in  a  single  day. 

Compared  with  the  wild  bird,  the  specimen  that  is  caged 
or  confined  is  a  poor,  weak  thing  at  best,  short  of  breath, 
low  in  vitality,  and  lacking  the  vigorous  assimilative  powers 
of  the  free  bird.  Keepers  of  cage  birds,  who  know  well 
the  capacity  of  their  pets,  find  it  difficult  to  believe  that 
wild  birds  can  possibly  consume  the  amount  of  food  that 
actually  has  been  found  in  their  stomachs  by  economic 
ornithologists. 

When  the  reader  is  told  that  thirty  grasshoppers  were  found 
in  the  stomach  of  a  single  Catbird,  he  conjures  up  a  mental 
photograph  of  the  full-grown  grasshopper  (the  imago)  that 
he  sees  in  the  field  in  late  summer,  and  fails  to  remember, 
perhaps,  that  grasshoppers  come  from  eggs,  and  in  their 
growth  to  maturity  may  be  found  of  all  sizes,  between  that 
of  the  newly  hatched  insect  and  the  full-winged  hopper. 

1  History  of  Birds,  p.  225. 


58  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


While  the  Catbird's  stomach  might  not  be  large  enough  to 
contain  thirty  full-grown  locusts,  it  would  easily  contain  more 
than  thirty  small  ones.  The  statement  that  thirty  grasshop- 
pers were  found  in  the  Catbird's  stomach  might  also  need 
modification  in  another  way.  The  least  fragment  of  an  in- 
sect found  in  a  bird's  stomach  is  usually  considered  good 
proof  that  the  bird  has  eaten  that  insect.  There  might  be 
found  in  the  stomach  of  a  bird  a  mass  of  unrecognizable 
material,  from  which  the  expert  would  be  able  to  sort  out 
and  recognize  enough  of  the  harder  parts  of  different  grass- 
hoppers to  prove  that  thirty  of  these  insects,  of  consider- 
able size,  had  been  eaten  within  a  certain  time,  even  though 
a  greater  part  of  those  first  swallowed  had  already  disap- 
peared from  the  stomach. 

Prof.  F.  E.  L.  Beal  writes  me  as  follows  regarding  the 
methods  used  at  the  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture in  counting  the  insects  found  in  the  stomachs  of 
birds  :  — 

In  the  case  of  grasshoppers  and  caterpillars  it  is  the  jaws  (mandi- 
bles) that  are  counted.  Birds  when  not  sleeping  appear  to  eat  all  the 
time  when  not  occupied  in  other  duties,  such  as  nest-making  or  feeding 
their  young.  The  process  of  digestion  is  continuous.  The  more  easily 
digested  parts  pass  out  of  the  stomach  very  quickly,  but  the  hard  parts 
remain  somewhat  longer.  In  this  way  when  a  bird  is  feeding  upon 
grasshoppers  the  jaws  of  those  first  eaten  remain  after  the  rest  of 
the  body  has  passed  on.  When  the  stomach  is  opened  the  jaws  are 
counted,  and  for  every  two  we  estimate  at  least  one  grasshopper  killed. 
In  cases  where  only  a  few  insects  were  involved  I  have  taken  the  pains 
to  pair  the  jaws,  and  in  this  way  have  often  found  that  the  number  that 
had  been  eaten  was  more  than  half  the  number  of  jaws.  In  this  work 
each  head  that  appears  to  be  whole  is  carefully  examined,  to  see  that  it 
has  not  lost  one  or  more  of  its  jaws ;  were  it  not  for  this  precaution, 
the  insect  might  be  counted  twice.  Caterpillars,  like  grasshoppers, 
are  easily  broken  up,  and  so  the  heads  are  counted  when  whole  ;  other- 
wise the  jaws  are  counted. 

The  variation  in  size  of  different  species  of  insects  should 
also  be  considered.  While  the  caterpillars  of  some  species 
of  moths  reach  three  or  four  inches  in  length,  others  never 
grow  to  be  half  an  inch  long. 

These  and  other  similar  considerations,  well  known   to 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAX.  59 

the  economic  ornithologist,  lead  him  to  accept  as  facts  the 
extreme  statements  made  by  competent  investigators. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  explanations  that,  while 
a  large  number  of  injurious  insects  found  in  a  bird's  stom- 
ach may  indicate  its  usefulness,  it  may  not  always  mean  that 
it  has  eaten  a  great  bulk  or  quantity  of  such  food. 

The  question  which  most  interests  the  farmer,  however, 
is,  not  so  much  what  birds  require  to  sustain  life,  as  how 
much  they  will  eat  if  they  can  get  their  fill.  If  in  times  of 
plenty  birds  will  eat  more  than  they  really  need,  then  thev 
become  more  useful  or  injurious,  as  the  case  may  be,  than 
they  would  be  if  they  ate  only  enough  to  live.  The  amount 
of  food  that  has  been  found  in  birds'  gizzards  indicates  that 
they  will  eat  until  surfeited. 

Professor  Beal,  who  has  examined  the  contents  of  over 
twenty  thousand  stomachs,  says,  regarding  this  habit:  — 

The  majority  of  people  have  no  idea  of  how  much  these  insects  can 
be  compressed  in  the  stomach  of  a  bird.  It  is  often  the  case  that  when 
a  stomach  has  been  opened,  and  the  contents  placed  in  a  pile,  the  heap 
is  two  or  three  times  as  large  as  the  original  stomach  with  the  food  all 
in  it.  Moreover,  in  the  cases  where  remarkable  numbers  of  insects 
have  been  found,  the  crops  or  gullets  usually  have  been  full,  as  well  as 
the  stomach  itself.  It  is  a  fact,  perhaps  not  generally  known,  that  with 
birds  that  have  no  special  enlargement  of  the  gullet  in  the  nature  of  a 
crop,  the  whole  gullet  is  used  for  the  purpose ;  and  when  favorite  food 
is  abundant,  the  bird  will  till  itself  to  the  throat.  1  have  seen  a  Snow- 
bird so  full  of  seeds  that  they  were  plainly  in  sight  when  the  beak  was 
opened,  and  from  the  bill  to  the  stomach  was  a  solid  mass  of  seed. 
The  stomachs  of  birds  are  often  packed  so  hard  and  tight  witli  food 
that  it  is  a  wonder  how  the  process  of  digestion  can  go  on :  but  it  does, 
nevertheless. 

In  giving  the  maximum  amounts  of  food  found  in  birds' 
stomachs,  I  shall  be  obliged  to  refer  to  the  publications  of 
the  Bureau  of  Biological  Survey  of  the  United  States  De- 
partment of  Agriculture ;  and  it  is  but  just  to  say  here 
that  the  world  owes  much  to  Dr.  Merriam,  chief  of  the 
Bureau,  for  his  indefatigable  labors  in  behalf  of  science  and 
agriculture. 

In  connection  with  the  work  of  the  survey,  the  contents 
of  more  than  thirtv-tive  thousand  bird  stomachs  have  been 


60  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


examined,  and  much  has  been  done  in  observing  the  feed- 
ing habits  of  birds  in  the  field.  The  work  in  economic  orni- 
thology performed  by  Merriam,  Fisher,  Barrows,  Beal,  and 
Judd  is  of  great  value.  Its  results  rank  above  those  of 
all  other  similar  investigations,  and  must  be  considered  as 
authoritative. 

Professor  Beal  found  in  the  stomach  of  a  Yellow-billed 
Cuckoo  two  hundred  and  seventeen  fall  webworms,  and  in 
another  two  hundred  and  fifty  American  tent  caterpillars. 
Two  Flickers  were  found  to  have  eaten  respectively  three 
thousand  and  five  thousand  ants.  Sixty  grasshoppers  were 
found  in  the  stomach  of  a  Xighthawk. 

Professor  Harvey  found  five  hundred  mosquitoes  in  a 
Nighthawk's  stomach.  In  this  case  the  insects  must  have 
been  fully  grown,  as  the  larvse  of  the  mosquito  are  found 
mainly  in  water,  and  the  Nighthawk  takes  its  food  on  the 
wing.  The  stomach  of  this  useful  bird  is  much  larger  in  pro- 
portion to  its  size  than  that  of  most  other  birds  ;  but  sev- 
enty-five hundred  seeds  of  the  yellow  Avood  sorrel  had  been 
eaten  by  a  Mourning  Dove,  sixty-four  hundred  by  another, 
and  ninety-two  hundred  seeds,  chiefly  of  weeds,  were  found 
in  another.  Here  we  have  twenty-three  thousand  one  hun- 
dred seeds,  mostly  those  of  weeds,  eaten  at  a  meal  by  three 
birds.  Probably  where  these  large  numbers  are  given,  the 
result  is  approximate,  and  is  arrived  at  by  counting  a  part 
of  the  contents  for  a  measure,  and  from  this  estimating  the 
rest  in  bulk. 

Dr.  Judd  says  that  the  stomachs  of  four  Bank  Swallows 
contained,  all  together,  just  two  hundred  ants,  and  that  a 
Xighthawk  has  been  known  to  eat  one  thousand  at  a  single 
meal.  He  speaks  of  seventeen  hundred  seeds  of  weeds  hav- 
ing been  taken  at  one  feeding  by  a  Bob-white ;  three  thou- 
sand leguminous  seeds  were  found  in  the  stomach  of  another, 
and  no  less  than  five  thousand  seeds  of  pigeon  grass  were 
taken  from  a  third.  Dr.  Warren  has  taken  twenty-eight 
cutworms  from  the  stomach  of  a  Red-winged  Blackbird. 
Stomachs  of  Snowflakes  have  each  contained  from  five 
hundred  to  fifteen  hundred  seeds  of  amaranth.  Professor 
Forbes  found  in  the  stomachs  of  seven  Cedar  Birds  a  number 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  61 

of  cankenvorms  varying  from  seventy  to  one  hundred  and 
one  each,  the  number  found  in  most  cases  averaging  nearly 
one  hundred  for  each  bird. 

A  Ruffed  Grouse,  killed  in  winter,  had  in  its  crop  twelve 
leaves  of  sheep  laurel  and  four  hundred  and  thirty-five  buds 
and  bits  of  branches,  all  taken  for  its  morning  meal.  The 
crop  of  another  contained  over  five  hundred  buds  and  twigs. 
As  these  birds  eat  such  food  both  at  morning  and  at  night,  it 
would  seem  that  they  must  require  daily,  for  these  two  meals 
alone,  between  eight  hundred  and  one  thousand  buds  and 
twigs.1 

The  following  notes,  received  from  Professor  Beal  since 
the  above  was  written,  are  of  great  interest :  — 

From  the  stomach  of  a  Franklin's  Gull  (Larus  franklinii)  there  were 
taken  seventy  entire  grasshoppers  and  the  jaws  of  fifty-six  more ;  from 
another,  ninety  grasshoppers  and  one  hundred  and  two  additional  jaws  ; 
from  another,  forty-eight  grasshoppers  and  seventy  more  jaws  ;  and  still 
another  contained  sixty-seven  grasshoppers.  Another  stomach  of  this 
species  contained  sixty-eight  crickets.  These  grasshoppers  and  crickets 
were  each  more  than  one  inch  in  length.  We  examined  the  stomach 
of  a  Franklin's  Gull  which  contained  three  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
entire  nymphs  of  dragon  flies,  each  three-fourths  of  an  inch  in  length. 
In  the  stomach  of  a  Cliff  Swallow  were  found  one  hundred  entire 
beetles  (Aphodius  inquinatus) ,  with  remains  of  others.  These  insects 
are  a  little  more  than  three-eighths  of  an  inch  in  length.  AVe  are  now 
examining  birds'  stomachs  from  Texas,  and  from  the  stomach  of  a  Yel- 
low-billed Cuckoo  were  taken  the  remains  of  eighty-two  caterpillars 
that  originally  were  from  one  to  one  and  a  half  inches  in  length.  From 
another  stomach  were  taken  eighty-six,  and  from  forty  to  sixty  from 
several  others. 

All  evidence  acquired  by  observation  as  to  the  amount  of 
food  eaten  by  wild  birds  at  liberty  must  perforce  be  frag- 
mentary, for  such  observation  is  necessarily  limited  to  brief 
periods.  The  difficulties  attending  such  work  make  its  re- 
sults somewhat  uncertain  and  unsatisfactory  ;  nevertheless, 
some  information  as  to  the  quantity  of  food  eaten  by  wild 
birds  may  be  obtained  in  this  way.  Vultures  are  said  to  so 
gorge  themselves  that  they  are  unable  to  fly.  I  have  known 

1  Birds  in  their  Relation  to  Man,  by  Clarence  M.  Weed  and  Ned  Dearborn, 
1903,  p.  62. 


62  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


a  Goshawk  in  winter  to  kill  a  domestic  Cock  of  more  than 
its  own  weight,  and  devour  the  greater  part  at  two  meals. 
I  have  learned,  by  following  certain  Warblers  and  Titmice 
through  the  woods,  that  their  search  for  and  consumption  of 
insects  are  almost  continuous  during  most  of  the  forenoon. 
As  the  noon  hour  approaches  they  become  less  active,  and 
on  warm  days  devote  some  time  to  resting  and  bathing.  In 
the  afternoon  their  activity  increases,  until  toward  night 
their  quest  for  food  is  almost  as  strenuous  as  in  the  early 
morning.  They  are,  therefore,  actually  engaged  for  the 
larger  part  of  the  day  in  capturing  and  eating  insects.  In 
feedino-  wild  birds  in  winter  I  have  noticed  that  Chickadees 

O 

come  to  the  food  supplied  for  them  about  three  times  an  hour 
all  day  long,  and  that  in  the  intervals  they  are  mainly  occu- 
pied in  finding  their  natural  food.  On  May  28,  1898,  Mr. 
Mosher  watched  a  pair  of  Northern  Yellow-throats  eating 
plant  lice  from  the  birches  in  the  Middlesex  Fells  Reserva- 
tion, where  these  insects  swarmed.  He  was  equipped  with 
a  good  glass,  and  concealed  close  to  the  spot  where  the  birds 
were  feeding,  and  so  was  able  to  count  in  turn  the  number 
of  times  each  bird  picked  up  an  insect.  One  of  these  War- 
blers apparently  swallowred  eighty-nine  of  these  tiny  insects 
in  one  minute.  The  pair  continued  eating  at  this  rate  for 
forty  minutes.  Mr.  Mosher  states  that  they  must  have  eaten 
considerably  over  seven  thousand  plant  lice  in  that  time.  It 
would  seem  impossible  for  the  birds  to  crowd  that  number 
of  insects  into  their  stomachs ;  but  we  must  remember  that 
the  insects  were  infinitesimal  in  size,  soft-bodied,  easily  com- 
pressed in  the  stomach,  and  quickly  digested,  so  that  by  the 
time  a  part  were  eaten  those  first  taken  would  be  well  dis- 
posed of,  leaving  room  for  more.  Mr.  Mosher  is  a  very 
careful,  painstaking,  and  trustworthy  observer  ;  undoubtedly 
his  statement  is  accurate ;  but,  to  eliminate  any  possibility 
of  error,  we  will  assume  for  purposes  of  calculation  that 
they  ate  only  thirty-five  hundred  in  an  hour. 

A  pair  of  Yellow- throats  (presumably  the  same)  were  seen 
to  come  daily  and  many  times  each  day  to  the  birch  trees 
which  were  infested  with  these  aphids.  Probably  they  spent 
at  least  three  hours  each  day  feeding  on  these  insects.  If 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  63 

the  two  birds  ate  only  thirty-five  hundred  an  hour  for  three 
hours  a  day,  they  would  consume  ten  thousand  five  hundred 
aphids  each  day,  or  seventy-three  thousand  five  hundred  in 
a  week.  It  requires  no 
draft  on  the  imagination 
to  see  how  such  appe- 
tites may  become  useful 
to  the  farmer  if  they  are 
satiated  on  his  insect 
enemies. 

Two  Scarlet  Tanagers 
were    seen    eating    very 

Fig.  26.  —  Yellow-throat  catohing  birch  aphids. 

small  caterpillars  of  the 

gipsy  moth  for  eighteen  minutes,  at  the  rate  of  thirty-five 
a  minute.  These  birds  spent  much  time  in  that  way.  If 
we  assume  that  they  ate  caterpillars  at  this  rate  for  only  an 
hour  each  day,  they  must  have  consumed  daily  twenty-one 
hundred  caterpillars,  or  fourteen  thousand  seven  hundred 
in  a  week.  Such  a  number  of  caterpillars  would  be  suffi- 
cient to  defoliate  two  average  apple  trees,  and  so  prevent 
fruitage.  The  removal  of  these  caterpillars  might  enable  the 
trees  to  bear  a  full  crop.  It  is  easily  possible,  therefore, 
for  a  single  pair  of  these  birds  in  a  week's  time  to  save  the 
fruit  of  two  average  apple  trees, — a  crop  worth  from  two 
to  five  dollars  or  more,  according  to  the  productiveness  of 
the  trees  and  the  price  paid  for  apples. 

BIRDS  SAVE  TREES  AND  CROPS  FROM  DESTRUCTION. 

Since  birds  evidently  operate  to  check  insect  outbreaks,  it 
follows  that  in  their  capacity  of  insect  destroyers  they  must 
in  many  instances  have  saved  trees  and  crops  from  destruc- 
tion by  insect  pests.  If,  however,  we  turn  to  the  literature 
of  agriculture,  entomology,  and  ornitholog}r,  we  shall  not  find 
it  replete  with  such  instances.  Still,  there  are  enough  on 
record  to  show  that  conspicuous  services  of  birds  have  been 
noted  occasionally  ;  and  I  am  convinced  by  my  own  experi- 
ence that  such  checks  to  insect  increase  occur  commonly,  but 
escape  both  observation  and  record. 

Some  brief  but  striking  accounts  of  this   class  of  occur- 


64  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


rences  may  be  gleaned  from  European  records.  Samuels 
writes  that  in  Pomerania  in  1847  an  immense  forest  that  was 
in  danger  of  being  utterly  ruined  by  caterpillars  was  very 
unexpectedly  saved  by  Cuckoos,  which,  though  on  the  point 
of  migrating,  established  themselves  there  for  some  weeks, 
and  so  thoroughly  cleared  the  trees  that  the  next  year  "neither 
depredators  nor  depredations  were  to  be  seen."  l  He  also 
speaks  of  a  European  outbreak  of  the  gipsy  moth  (Bombyx 
dispar}  in  1848,  saying  that  the  hand  of  man  was  powerless 
to  work  off  the  infliction,  but  that  on  the  approach  of  winter 
Titmice  and  Wrens  paid  daily  visits  to  the  infested  trees, 
and  before  spring  had  arrived  the  eggs  of  dispar  were  en- 
tirely destroyed.  This  account  agrees  with  the  following 
translation  from  Altum  :  — 

In  the  year  1848  endless  numbers  of  the  larvae  of  Bombyx  dispar  had 
eaten  every  leaf  from  the  trees  of  Count  Wodzicki,  so  that  they  were 
perfectly  bare.  In  the  fall  all  the  branches  and  limbs  were  covered 
with  the  egg  clusters.  After  he  had  recognized  the  impracticability  of 
it,  he  gave  up  all  endeavor  to  remove  them  by  hand,  and  prepared  to 
see  his  beautiful  trees  die.  Towards  whiter  numerous  flocks  of  Titmice 
and  Wrens  came  daily  to  the  trees.  The  egg  clusters  disappeared.  In 
the  spring  twenty  pairs  of  Titmice  nested  in  the  garden,  and  the  larva 
plague  was  noticeably  reduced.  In  the  year  1850  the  small  feathered 
garden  police  had  cleaned  his  trees,  so  that  he  saw  them  during  the 
entire  summer  in  their  most  beautiful  verdure.2 

According  to  Reaumur,  these  larvae  were  so  extremely 
numerous  on  the  limes  of  the  Alle  verte  at  Brussels  in  1826 
that  many  of  the  great  trees  of  that  noble  avenue  were  nearly 
defoliated.  The  moths  swarmed  like  bees  in  the  summer. 
They  were  also  very  numerous  in  the  park,  and  if  one-half 
the  eggs  had  hatched  in  the  following  spring,  probably  scarce 
a  leaf  would  have  remained  in  these  favorite  places  of  public 
resort.  Two  months  later,  however,  he  could  scarcely  dis- 
cover a  single  egg  cluster.  This  happy  result  was  attributed 
to  the  Titmice  and  Creepers,  which  were  seen  busily  running 
up  and  down  the  tree  trunks.3 

1  Agricultural  Value  of  Birds,  by  E.  A.  Samuels.    Annual  Report  of  the 
Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1865-66,  pp.  116,  117. 

2  Translated  from  Forstzoologie,  II,  1880,  p.  324. 

8  Reau.  i  387.  Cited  by  Kirby  and  Spence  in  their  Introduction  to  Entomology, 
1857,  pp.  117,  118. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  65 

The  value  of  birds  has  already  been  recognized  at  the 
antipodes.  Australian  fanners  have  suffered  greatly  from 
inroads  of  locusts  upon  their  crops  and  pastures. 

The  Australian  correspondence  of  the  Mark  Lane  Express 
of  March  7,  1892,  had  a  paragraph  relating  to  the  value  of 
the  Ibis  to  fanners  during  the  locust  incursions  of  that  year 
and  the  year  previous.  In  the  Glen  Thompson  district 
several  large  flocks,  one  said  to  number  fully  five  hundred 
birds,  were  seen  eating  the  young  locusts  in  a  wholesale 
manner.  Other  insectivorous  birds  were  flourishing  upon 
the  same  diet.  Xear  Ballarat,  Victoria,  a  swarm  of  locusts 
was  noted  in  a  paddock  ;  and  just  as  it  was  feared  that  all 
the  sheep  would  have  to  be  sold  for  want  of  grass,  flocks  of 
Starlings,  Spoonbills,  and  Cranes  made  their  appearance,  and 
in  a  few  days  made  so  complete  a  destruction  of  the  locusts 
that  only  about  forty  acres  of  grass  were  lost.1 

American  farmers  have  had  many  similar  experiences. 
When  the  Mormons  first  settled  in  Utah  their  crops  were 
almost  utterly  destroyed  by  myriads  of  crickets  that  came 


Fig.  27.  —  Tlie  western  cricket  that  destroyed  the  settlers'  crops  at  Salt  Lake. 
Natural  size;  after  Glover. 


down  from  the  mountains.  Hon.  Geo.  Q.  Cannon,  as  tem- 
porary chairman  of  the  third  irrigation  congress,  told  how  it 
happened.  The  first  year's  crop  having  been  destroyed,  the 
Mormons  had  sowed  seed  the  second  year.  The  crop  prom- 
ised well,  but  when  again  the  crickets  appeared,  the  people 
were  in  danger  of  starvation.  In  describing  the  conditions 
in  1848  Mr.  Cannon  says  :  — 

1  Insect  Life,  Riley  and  Howard,  1891-92,  Vol.  IV,  p.  409. 


66 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


Black  crickets  came  down  by  millions  and  destroyed  our  grain 
crops;  promising  fields  of  wheat  in  the  morning  were  by  evening 
as  smooth  as  a  man's  hand,  —  devoured  by  the  crickets.  .  .  .  At  this 
juncture  sea  Gulls  came  by  hundreds  and  thousands,  and  before  the 
crops  Avere  entirely  destroyed  these  Gulls  devoured  the  insects,  so  that 
our  fields  Avere  entirely  freed  from  them.  .  .  .  The  settlers  at  Salt 
Lake  regarded  the  advent  of  the  birds  as  a  heaAren-sent  miracle.  .  .  . 
I  have  been  along  the  ditches  in  the  morning  and  have  seen  lumps  of 
these  crickets  A'omited  up  by  the  Gulls,  so  that  they  could  again  begin 
killing. 

These  "lumps  of  crickets"  were  probably  pellets  com- 
posed of  indigestible  portions  of  the  insects,  regurgitated 
by  the  birds.  These  crickets  (Anahrus  purpurascens}  trav- 


Pig.  28.  —  Gulls  saving  crops  by  killing  crickets. 

elled  in  enormous  hordes,  stopping  at  no  obstacle,  even 
crossing  rivers.  Several  times  afterward  the  crops  of  the 
Mormons  were  attacked  by  them,  and  were  saved  by  the 
Gulls.1  Dr.  A.  K.  Fisher  is  authority  for  the  statement 

1  This  account  of  the  deliverance  of  the  Mormons  by  the  Gulls  is  vouched  for 
by  many  witnesses.  See  Irrigation  Age,  1891,  p.  188 ;  also,  Insect  Life,  Vol.  VII, 
p.  275;  Annual  Report  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1871,  p. 
76;  Annual  Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  1871,  p.  79; 
and  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  United  States  Entomological  Commission 
1878-79,  p.  166. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAX.  67 

that  the  bird  referred  to  is  undoubtedly  Franklin's  Gull 
(Lams  franklinii) ,  which  occurs  in  enormous  flocks  about 
the  small  fresh- water  lakes  of  the  northwest,  and  feeds  in 
great  companies  on  Orthoptera  of  all  sorts.  The  Gulls  wrere 
practically  canonized  by  the  grateful  Mormons,  and  protected 
by  both  law  and  public  sentiment,  as  a  recognition  of  their 
worth. 

Similar  services  were  performed  by  birds  during  the  great 
locust  ravages  which  followed  the  settlement  of  the  Missis- 
sippi valley.  When  large  swarms  of  locusts  appeared,  nearly 
all  birds,  from  the  tiny  Kinglet  to  the  great  Whooping  Crane, 
feel  on  them.  Fish-eating  birds,  like  the  Great  Blue  Heron, 
flesh-eating  birds,  like  the  Hawks  and  Owls,  shore  birds, 
Ducks,  Geese,  Gulls, — all  joined  with  the  smaller  land  birds 
in  the  general  feast.  Prof.  Samuel  Aughey  learned  this 
by  dissecting  birds  and  observing  their  feeding  habits  in 
Nebraska.  In  a  paper  published  by  him  in  1877,  but  not 
often  quoted,  he  gives  some  of  the  practical  results  of  the 
work  done  by  birds  in  protecting  crops  from  the  mighty 
swarms  of  locusts  which  were  devastating  most  of  that 
region.  He  says  :  — 

In  the  spring  of  1865  the  locusts  hatched  out  in  countless  numbers  in 
northeastern  Nebraska.  Very  few  fields  of  corn  and  the  cereal  grains 
escaped  some  damage.  Some  fields  were  entirely  destroyed,  while 
others  were  hurt  to  the  amount  of  from  ten  to  seventy-five  per  cent. 
One  field  of  corn  northwest  of  Dakota  City  was  almost  literally  covered 
with  locusts,  and  there  the  indications  were  that  not  a  stalk  would 
escape.  After,  and  about  the  time  the  corn  was  up,  the  Yellow-headed 
Blackbirds  in  large  numbers  made  this  field  their  feeding  ground. 
Visiting  the  field  frequently,  I  could  see  a  gradual  diminution  of  the 
number  of  the  locusts.  Other  birds,  especially  the  Plovers,  helped  the 
Yellow-heads  ;  and,  although  some  of  the  corn  had  to  be  replanted  once, 
yet  it  was  the  birds  that  made  the  crop  that  was  raised  possible  at  all. 
During  the  same  season  I  visited  Pigeon  Creek  valley,  in  this  county, 
and  I  found  among  the  eaten-up  wheat  fields  one  where  the  damage 
done  was  not  over  five  per  cent.  The  Irishman  who  pointed  it  out  to  me 
ascribed  it  to  the  work  of  the  birds,  chief  among  which  were  the  Black- 
bird and  Plover,  with  a  few  Quail  and  Prairie  Chickens. 

Professor  Aughey  speaks  of  a  locality  where,  on  several 
old  fields,  locusts  hatched  to  the  number  of  about  three  hun- 


68  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


dred  to  the  square  foot.  Birds  soon  found  them,  and  the 
ground  was  frequented  by  Blackbirds,  Plover,  Curlews, 
Prairie  Chickens  and  small  land  birds.  Long  before  the 
middle  of  June  most  of  the  locusts  had  disappeared.  In 
1886  locusts,  he  says,  invaded  Cedar  and  Dixon  counties  in 
swarms  that  darkened  the  sun.  Nevertheless,  at  one  point 
under  observation  the  great  number  of  birds  that  attacked 
these  insects  very  materially  lessened  their  numbers.  In 
1869  more  than  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  locusts  in  one 
neighborhood  were  destroyed,  apparently  by  birds,  in  one 
week.  Other  experiences  are  given,  and  several  interesting 
letters  from  farmers  are  published,  one  of  which  follows  :  — 

DEAH  SIR  :  —  In  answer  to  your  question  about  the  birds  and  the 
locusts,  I  must  say  this :  every  farmer  that  shoots  birds  must  be  a  fool. 
I  had  wheat  this  last  spring  on  new  breaking.  The  grasshoppers  came 
out  apparently  as  thick  as  the  wheat  itself,  and  indeed  much  thicker.  I 
gave  up  that  field  for  lost.  Just  then  great  numbers  of  Plover  came, 
and  flocks  of  Blackbirds  and  some  Quail,  and  commenced  feeding  on 
this  field.  They  cleaned  out  the  locusts  so  well  that  I  had  at  least 
three-fourths  of  a  crop,  and  I  know  that  without  the  birds  I  would  not 
have  had  any.  I  know  other  farmers  whose  wheat  was  saved  in  the 
same  way.  S.  E.  GOODMOKE. 

FREMONT,  NEB. 

Another  farmer  wrote  that  the  locusts  hatched  in  immense 
numbers  in  his  corn  fields,  but  flocks  of  Blackbirds  came  and 
destroyed  the  insects,  so  that  he  raised  a  good  crop.  In  an- 
other case,  related  by  State  Senator  Crawford,  a  wheat  field 
was  swept  clean  by  the  locusts  when  the  wheat  was  about 
two  inches  high;  but  flocks  of  Blackbirds  came  and  de- 
voured the  locusts,  and  the  wheat  sprang  up  again  and  made 
a  good  crop.  The  members  of  the  United  States  Entomo- 
logical Commission  were  much  impressed  with  the  value  of 
birds  as  locust  destroyers.  They  said  that  the  ocular  dem- 
onstration of  the  usefulness  of  birds  as  insect  destroyers  was 
"so  full  and  complete  that  it  was  impossible  to  entertain  any 
doubt  on  this  point."  In  one  instance  a  farmer  took  one 
of  the  members  of  the  commission  out  into  the  field,  to 
show  him  how  numerously  the  young  locusts  were  hatching 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAX.  69 

When  they  arrived,  the  insects  had  disappeared  from  the 
place  where  they  had  been  so  abundant  in  the  morning. 
The  statement  by  the  family  that  a  flock  of  Blackbirds  had 
been  there  during  the  farmer's  absence  solved  the  mystery. 
In  another  instance  a  garden  was  attacked  by  an  innumer- 
able host  of  little  locusts.  The  owner  battled  bravely-  with 
them  for  awhile,  but  at  last,  giving  up  in  despair,  sat  down 
to  watch  the  destruction  of  his  vegetables  and  flowers,  when 
suddenly  a  flock  of  Blackbirds  alighted  on  the  young  cot- 
tonwoods  he  had  planted  in  his  yard.  Having  chirped  a 
song,  as  if  to  cheer  him,  they  flew  into  the  garden  ;  when 
they  left,  an  hour  or  so  later,  the  dreaded  "  hoppers  "  were 
gone,  and  his  garden  was  saved.1 

A  severe  outbreak  of  the  forest  tent  caterpillar  (Mdlaco- 
soma  disstn'a)  occurred  in  Xew  York  and  some  of  the  Xew 
England  States  in  1897—98.  Thousands  of  acres  of  wood- 
land were  devastated,  great  damage  was  done  to  the  sugar- 
maple  orchards  of  Xew  York  and  Vermont,  and  the  injury 
extended  into  Massachusetts.  Birds  and  other  natural  ene- 
mies attacked  the  caterpillars  vigorously  in  many  localities, 
and  by  the  year  1900  the  plague  had  been  reduced  so  that 
the  injury  was  no  longer  seen.  Miss  Mary  B.  Sherman  of 
Ogdensburg,  X.  Y.,  wrote  on  May  18  of  that  year  that  the 
town  was  then  full  of  birds  which  were  feeding  on  the  cater- 
pillars. There  had  been  numerous  Warblers  in  the  maples, 
and  the  Orioles,  Sparrows,  Robins,  Cedar  Birds,  several 
species  of  Warblers,  and  probably  the  House  "Wren,  were 
killing  caterpillars.  Birds  were  reported  in  large  numbers 
in  the  county.  On  May  26  she  wrote  again,  stating  that 
there  were  practically  no  caterpillars  left,  cold  weather  hav- 
ing killed  many,  and  the  birds  apparently  having  destroyed 
the  remainder.2 

The  good  accomplished  by  birds  in  quelling  great  insect  in- 
vasions should  be  patent  to  all,  but  very  few  people  realize 
what  the  birds  are  doing.  Many  Xebraskans  failed  to  notice 

1  First  Report  of  the  United  States  Entomological  Commission.    Riley,  Pack- 
ard, and  Thomas.     1877,  pp.  335,  336,  338-344. 

2  Report  on  the  Injurious  and  Other  Insects  of  the  State  of  New  York,  by 
E.  P.  Felt,  1900,  p.  1019. 


70  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


that  birds  were  feeding  on  the  locusts  until  Professor  Aughey 
called  their  attention  to  this  fact  by  articles  published  in  the 
press. 

Birds  are  doing  the  same  kind  of  work  in  Massachusetts 
to-day,  in  repressing  smaller  outbreaks  of  common  insects. 
Had  we  more  observing  people  to  record  such  services,  their 
amount  and  variety  probably  would  astound  us.  Professor 
Beal  saw  a  family  of  Rose-breasted  Grosbeaks  clear  the  potato 
beetles  from  a  potato  patch  of  about  one-fourth  of  an  acre. 
Mr.  P3.  W.  Wood  of  West  Newton,  a  well-known  horticultur- 
ist, informed  me  that  during  one  season,  when  the  spring  can- 
kerworms  (Paleacrita  vernata)  became  quite  numerous  in  his 
orchard,  a  pair  of  Baltimore  Orioles  appeared,  built  a  nest 
near  by,  and  fed  daily  upon  the  cankerworms.  This  they 
continued  to  do  assiduously ;  by  the  time  the  young  birds 
were  hatched,  the  numbers  of  the  worms  were  considerably 
reduced.  The  birds  then  redoubled  their  diligence,  carry- 
ing ten  or  eleven  worms  to  the  nest  at  once.  Soon  the 
cankerworms  had  disappeared,  and  there  has  been  no  trouble 
from  them  for  many  years. 

Instances  were  recorded  during  the  first  State  campaign 
against  the  gipsy  moth,  from  1890  to  1895,  where  small 
isolated  moth  colonies  appeared  to  have  been  suppressed 
and  even  annihilated  by  birds.  A  serious  outbreak  was 
discovered  in  Georgetown,  Mass.,  in  1899.  It  had  been  in 
existence  for  a  long  time,  but  its  spread  had  evidently  been 
limited  by  the  great  number  of  birds  that  were  feeding  there 
on  all  forms  of  the  moth.  Several  months  later  the  State 
abandoned  the  work  against  the  moth,  and  little  hope  was 
entertained  that  anything  more  than  a  severe  check  had  been 
given  the  insect  in  Georgetown.  Nevertheless,  in  the  six 
years  that  have  since  elapsed  coniparativelv  few  moths  have 
been  found  in  that  locality.  The  most  feasible  explanation 
of  this  seems  to  be  that  up  to  1906  the  birds  have  kept  the 
numbers  of  the  moths  below  the  point  where  they  can  do 
appreciable  injury. 

I  have  had  several  opportunities,  within  the  last  fifteen 
years,  to  watch  the  checking  of  insect  uprisings  by  birds. 
One  morning  in  the  fall  of  1904  I  noticed  in  some  poplar 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN. 


71 


trees  near  the  shore  of  the  Musketaquid  a  small  flock  of 
Myrtle  and  Black-poll  Warblers,  busily  feeding  on  a  swarm 
of  plant  lice.  There  were  not  more  than  fifteen  birds.  The 
insects  were  mainly  imagoes,  and  some  of  them  were  flying. 
The  birds  were  pursuing  these  through  the  air,  but  were  also 
seeking  those  that  remained  on  the  trunks  and  branches.  I 
watched  these  birds 
for  some  time,  noted 
their  activity7,  and 
then  passed  on,  but 
returned  and  ob- 
served their  move- 
ments quite  closely 
at  intervals  all  day. 
Toward  night  some 
of  the  insects  had 
scattered  to  neigh- 
boring trees,  and  a 
few  of  the  birds 
were  pursuing  them 
there ;  but  most  of 
the  latter  remained 
at  or  about  the  place 
where  the  aphis 
swarm  was  first  seen,  and  they  were  still  there  at  sundown. 
The  swarm  decreased  rapidly  all  day,  until  just  before  sunset 
it  was  difficult  to  find  even  a  few  specimens  of  the  insect. 
The  birds  remained  until  it  was  nearly  dark,  for  they  were 
still  finding  a  few  insects  on  the  higher  branches.  The  plant 
lice  I  had  secured  for  identification  were  destroyed  or  lib- 
erated during  the  night,  probably  by  a  deer  mouse  which 
frequented  the  camp  ;  so  the  next  morning  at  sunrise  I  went 
to  the  trees  to  look  for  more  specimens.  The  birds,  how- 
ever, were  there  before  me,  and  I  was  unable  to  find  a  single 
aphis  on  the  trees.  The  last  bird  to  linger  was  more  suc- 
cessful than  I,  for  it  was  still  finding  a  few  ;  but  it  soon  gave 
up  the  effort,  and  left  for  more  fruitful  fields.  Probably  a 
few  insects  escaped  by  flight ;  but  in  examining  the  locality 
in  1905  I  could  not  find  one.  The  apparently  complete 


Fig.  29.  — Warblers  destroying  a  swarm  of  plant  lice. 


72  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


destruction  of  these  insects  may  have  been  due  in  part  to 
the  hard  winter  that  ensued,  but  the  effect  produced  by  the 
birds  was  most  obvious. 

Such  instances  of  the  quelling  of  insect  outbreaks  by  birds 
are  noticeable,  but  the  regulative  influence  steadily  and 
perennially  exerted  by  them,  which  tends  to  keep  hundreds 
of  species  of  injurious  insects  below  the  point  where  their 
injury  to  trees  and  plants  would  become  apparent,  is  very 
seldom  appreciated. 

THE    INCREASE    OF    INJURIOUS    INSECTS    FOLLOWING 
THE   DESTRUCTION   OF   BIRDS. 

Many  cases  have  been  noted  where  the  destruction  of  birds 
has  been  followed  by  an  immediate  increase  in  the  numbers 
of  injurious  insects.  Frederick  the  Great,  king  of  Prussia, 
being  particularly  fond  of  cherries,  was  annoyed  to  see  that 
the  Sparrows  were  destroying  his  favorite  fruit.  An  edict 
was  issued  ordering  Sparrow  extermination.  All  the  re- 
sources of  the  fowler  were  brought  to  bear,  and  the  cam- 
paign was  so  successful  that  not  only  were  the  Sparrows 
destroyed,  but  many  other  birds  were  either  killed  or  driven 
away  by  the  extraordinary  measures  taken  against  the  Spar- 
rows. Within  two  years  cherries  and  most  other  fruits  were 
wanting.  The  trees  were  defoliated  by  caterpillars  and  other 
insects,  and  the  great  Frederick,  seeing  his  error,  imported 
Sparrows  at  considerable  expense  to  take  the  place  of  the 
birds  that  had  been  killed.1 

In  the  year  1798  the  forests  in  Saxony  and  Brandenburg 
were  attacked  by  a  general  mortality.  The  greater  part  of 
the  trees,  especially  the  firs  and  pines,  died  as  if  struck  at 
the  roots  by  some  secret  malady.  The  foliage  was  not  de- 
voured by  caterpillars ;  the  trees  perished  without  showing 
any  signs  of  external  disease.  This  calamity  became  so  gen- 
eral that  the  regency  of  Saxony  sent  naturalists  and  skillful 
foresters  to  find  out  the  cause.  They  soon  found  it  in  the 
multiplication  of  one  of  the  lepidopterous  insects,  which  in 
its  larval  state  fed  within  the  tree  upon  the  wood.  When- 

1  Agricultural  Value  of  Birds,  by  E.  A.  Samuels.  Annual  Report  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1865-66,  pp.  116,  117. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  73 

ever  any  bough  of  the  fir  or  the  pine  was  broken  this  insect 
was  found  within  it,  and  had  often  hollowed  it  out  even  to  the 
bark.  The  naturalists  reported  that  apparently  the  extraor- 
dinary increase  of  the  insect  was  owing  to  the  entire  dis- 
appearance of  several  species  of  Woodpecker  and  Titmouse, 
which  had  not  been  seen  in  the  forest  for  some  years.1 

In  1858  Kearly  wrote  to  the  Entomologists'  Intelligencer 
that  a  friend  who  had  been  spending  a  short  time  in  Belgium 
informed  him  that  in  the  previous  year  Sparrows  and  other 
birds  had  appeared  in  the  park  at  Brussels  in  unusual  num- 
bers. These  birds  probably  were  attracted  by  an  unusual 
supply  of  insect  food ;  but  complaint  was  made  of  the 
Sparrows  as  a  nuisance,  and  their  destruction  was  ordered. 
r'But,"  says  Kearly,  '"it  now  turns  out  that  in  exterminat- 
ing the  birds  the  park  goers  have  got  rid  of  one  evil  only 
to  entail  upon  themselves  a  greater.  Throughout  the  past 
summer  the  place  has  swarmed  with  insect  pests."  He  says 
also  that  the  larva  of  the  gipsy  moth  stripped  nearly  all  of 
the  trees  of  their  foliage,  and  was  one  of  the  chief  offenders. 
He  adds  that,  had  the  authorities  known  what  Kirby  and 
Spence  say  on  this  subject  (regarding  the  destruction  of 
this  insect  by  birds  in  Brussels  in  1826),  they  would  have 
remained  guiltless  of  killing  their  feathered  protectors. 

During  the  year  1861  the  harvests  of  France  gave  an  un- 
usually poor  return,  and  a  commission  to  investigate  the 
cause  of  the  deficiency  was  appointed  at  the  instance  of  the 
Minister  of  Agriculture.2  The  commission  took  counsel 
of  experienced  naturalists,  St.  Hilaire,  Prevost,  and  others. 
By  this  commission  the  deficiency  was  attributed  in  a  great 
degree  to  the  ravages  of  insects  which  it  is  the  function  of 
certain  birds  to  check. 

It  seems  that  the  French  people  had  been  killing  and 
eating  not  merely  the  game  birds,  but  the  smaller  birds 
as  well.  Insect-eating  birds  had  been  shot,  snared,  and 
trapped  throughout  the  country.  Fruit-eating  and  grain- 
eating  species  especially  had  been  persecuted.  Birds'  eggs 

1  Utility  of  Birds,  by  Wilson  Flagg.    Annual  Report  of  the  Massachusetts 
State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1861,  pp.  66,  67. 

2  Notes  on  the  Progress  of  Agricultural  Science,  by  David  A.  TVells.    Report 
of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Patents,  1861,  pp.  322,  323. 


74  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


had  been  taken  in  immense  numbers.  A  single  child  had 
been  known  to  come  in  at  night  with  a  hundred  eggs,  and 
the  number  of  birds'  eggs  destroyed  in  the  country  each  year 
was  estimated  at  eighty  to  one  hundred  millions.  Before 
such  persecution  the  birds  were  actually  dying  out.  Some 
species  had  already  disappeared,  and  others  were  rapidly 
diminishing.  As  an  apparent  result  of  the  destruction  of 
birds,  the  vines,  the  fruit  trees,  the  forest  trees,  and  the 
arrain  in  the  fields,  had  suffered  much  from  the  attacks  of 

O 

destructive  insects,  that  had  increased  as  a  result  of  the  dis- 
turbance of  nature's  balance  caused  by  the  decrease  of  birds. 
In  one  department  of  the  east  of  France  the  value  of  the  wheat 
destroyed  by  insects  in  a  single  season  was  estimated  at  five 
million  francs.  It  was  concluded  that  by  no  agency  save  that 
of  little  birds  could  the  ravages  of  insects  be  kept  down. 
The  commission  called  for  prompt  and  energetic  remedies, 
and  suggested  that  the  teachers  and  clergy  should  endeavor 
to  put  the  matter  in  its  proper  light  before  the  people. 

In  1895  I  received  a  letter  from  Mons.  J.  O.  Clercy, 
secretary  of  the  Society  of  Natural  Sciences,  Ekaterinburg, 
Russian  Siberia,  in  which  he  stated  that  the  ravages  of  two 
species  of  cutworms  and  some  ten  species  of  locusts  had  con- 
tributed (together  with  the  want  of  rain)  to  produce  a  famine 
in  that  region.  One  of  the  evident  causes  which  permitted 
such  a  numerous  propagation  of  insect  pests  was,  he  said, 
the  almost  complete  destruction  of  birds,  most  of  which  had 
been  killed  and  sent  abroad  by  wagonloads  for  ladies'  hats. 
A  law  for  the  protection  of  birds  was  then  enacted,  and,  said 
M.  Clercy,  "The  poor  little  creatures  are  doing  their  best 
to  reoccupy  their  old  places  in  the  woods  and  gardens."  The 
reoccupation,  however,  did  not  go  on  as  rapidly  as  did  the 
destruction.1 

Mr.  R.  E.  Turner,  in  an  important  paper  upon  insects, 
read  before  an  agricultural  conference  at  Mackay,  Queens- 
land, stated  that  he  considered  that  the  decrease  of  insectiv- 
orous birds,  owing  to  their  indiscriminate  shooting  by  the 
Kanakas  on  the  plantations,  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the 

1  The  Gipsy  Moth,  by  E.  H.  Forbush  and  C.  H.  Fernald,  p.  206.  Published 
by  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1896. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  75 

increase  of  the  sugar-cane  insects,  particularly  white  grubs, 
which  were  then  so  abundant.1  A  similar  effect  was  observed 
by  the  early  settlers  of  America  to  follow  the  shooting  of 
the  birds  which  attacked  their  crops.  Kalm  states,  in  his 
Travels  in  America,  that  in  1749,  after  a  great  destruction 
among  the  Crows  and  Blackbirds  for  a  legal  reward  of  three 
pence  per  dozen,  the  northern  States  experienced  a  complete 
loss  of  their  grass  and  grain  crops.  The  colonists  were 
obliged  to  import  hay  from  England  to  feed  their  cattle. 
The  greatest  losses  from  the  ravages  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
locust  were  coincident  with,  or  followed  soon  after,  the  de- 
struction by  the  people  of  countless  thousands  of  Blackbirds, 
Prairie  Chickens,  Quail,  Upland  Plover,  Curlew,  and  other 
birds.  This  coincidence  seems  significant,  at  least. 

Professor  Aughey  tells  how  this  slaughter  was  accom- 
plished. He  says  that  the  Blackbirds  and  many  other  birds 
decreased  greatly  in  Nebraska  in  the  twelve  years  previous 
to  1877.  He  first  went  to  the  State  in  18(54.  He  never  saw 
the  Blackbirds  so  abundant  as  they  were  during  1865  over 
eastern  Nebraska.  Vast  numbers  of  them  were  poisoned 
around  the  corn  fields  in  spring  and  fall  during  the  twelve 
years,  so  that  often  they  were  gathered  and  thrown  into 
piles.  This  was  done  in  the  belief  that  the  Blackbirds  were 
damaging  the  crops,  especially  the  corn.  Great  numbers  of 
birds  of  other  species  were  destroyed  at  the  same  time.  A 
single  grain  of  corn  soaked  with  strychnine  would  suffice  to 
kill  a  bird.  In  one  autumn,  in  Dakota  Count}'  alone,  not 
less  than  thirty  thousand  birds  must  have  been  destroyed  in 
this  way.  Regarding  this  slaughter  he  wrote  :  — 

Supposing  that  each  of  these  birds  averaged  eating  one  hundred  and 
fifty  insects  each  day,  we  then  have  the  enormous  number  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  million  insects  saved  in  this  one  county  in  one 
month  that  ought  to  have  been  destroyed  through  the  influence  of  birds. 
When  we  reflect,  further,  that  many  of  these  birds  were  migratory,  and 
that  they  helped  to  keep  down  the  increase  of  insects  in  distant  regions, 
the  harm  that  their  destruction  did  is  beyond  calculation.  The  killing 
of  such  birds  is  no  local  loss ;  it  is  a  national,  a  continental  loss.2 

'  Insect  Life,  by  Riley  and  Howard.    1894,  Vol.  VI-,  No.  4,  p.  333. 
2  First  Report  of  the  United  States  Entomological  Commission.    Riley,  Pack- 
ard, and  Thomas.     1877.  pp.  343,  344. 


76  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Professor  Aughey  gathered  statistics  regarding  the  killing 
of  Quail  and  Prairie  Chickens  for  the  market  during  this 
period,  and  concluded  that  in  thirty  counties  the  average 
yearly  slaughter  of  these  birds  must  have  been  at  least  five 
thousand  Quail  and  ten  thousand  Prairie  Chickens  for  each 
county,  or  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  birds  in  all.  We 
can  only  conjecture  as  to  how  great  was  the  destruction  of 
other  game  birds. 

The  poisoning  of  birds  in  the  west  permitted  an  increase 
of  many  other  insects  besides  the  locusts.  A  farmer  from 
Wisconsin  informed  me  that,  the  Blackbirds  in  his  vicinity 
having  been  killed  off,  the  white  grubs  increased  in  number 
and  destroyed  the  grass  roots,  so  that  he  lost  four  hundred 
dollars  in  one  year  from  this  cause. 

THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  INJURIOUS  MAMMALS  BY  BIRDS. 
The  injury  to  trees  and  crops  by  insects  is  not  the  only 
evil  that  has  followed  the  destruction  of  birds  and  other 
animals  by  man.  Rapacious  birds  hold  a  chief  place  among 
the  forces  which  are  appointed  to  hold  in  check  the  gnawing 
mammals  or  rodents,  which  breed  rapidly,  and,  unless  kept 
within  bounds,  are  very  destructive  to  grass  fields,  crops,  and 
trees.  The  great  swarms  of  lemmings  which  have  appeared 
from  time  to  time  upon  the  Scandinavian  peninsula  are  his- 
torical. Their  migrations,  during  which  they  destroy  the 
grass  or  grain  in  their  path,  until  finally  they  reach  the  sea 
and  perish  in  a  vain  attempt  to  cross  it,  have  been  recorded 
often.  A  similar  increase  of  rodents  may  take  place  any- 
where whenever  their  natural  enemies  are  unduly  reduced  in 
numbers.  Such  cases  are  on  record  in  England  and  Scot- 
land. In  Stowe's  Chronicle,  in  1581,  it  is  stated  :  — 

About  Hallontide  last  past  (1580)  in  the  marshes  of  Danessey  Hun- 
dred, in  a  place  called  South  Minster,  in  the  county  of  Essex,  there 
sodainlie  appeared  an  infinite  number  of  mice,  which  overwhelming  the 
whole  earth  in  the  said  marshes,  did  sheare  and  gnaw  the  grass  by  the 
rootes,  spoyling  and  tainting  the  same  with  their  venimous  teeth  in  such 
sort,  that  the  cattell  which  grazed  thereon  were  smitten  with  a  murraine 
and  died  thereof ;  which  vermine  by  policie  of  man  could  not  be  de- 
stroyed, till  at  the  last  it  came  to  pass  that  there  nocked  together  such 


PLATE   VI.  —  Field  or  Meadow  Mouse.     A  prolific  and  destructive 
species,  held  in  check  by  Hawks  and  Owls. 


PLATE   VII.  — White-footed  or  Deer  Mouse.     A  destructive  wood 
mouse,  the  increase  of  which  is  controlled  by  Hawks  and  Owls. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN. 


a  number  of  Owles,  as  all  the  shire  was  able  to  yield,  whereby  the 
marsh-holders  were  shortly  delivered  from  the  vexation  of  the  said 
mice.  The  like  of  this  was  also  in  Kent. 

This  reads  a  little  like  a  fable  or  legend,  and  we  must  be 
permitted  to  doubt  the  statement  as  to  the  cause  of  the 
"murraine  ;"  but  the  accuracy  of  the  story,  in  the  main,  is 
corroborated  by  the  records  of  later  occurrences  of  a  similar 
nature  in  the  same  region.  Childrey  also  records  this  occur- 
rence in  his  Britannia  Baconica,  16(50,  p.  14. 

Similar  tf  sore  plagues  of  strange  mice  "  were  experienced 
in  Essex  again  in  1(548,  near  Downham  Market,  Norfolk,  in 
1745,  and  again  in  Gloucestershire  and  Hampshire  in  1813- 
14. l  With  regard  to  Norfolk,  the  following  extract  is  of 
interest :  — 

Once  in  about  six  or  seven  years,  Ililgay,  about  one  thousand  acres, 
is  infested  with  an  incredible  number  of  field  mice,  which,  like  locusts, 
would  devour  the  corn  of  every  kind.  Invariably  there  follows  a  pro- 
digious llightof  Norway  Owls,  and  they  tarry  until  the  mice  are  entirely 
destroyed  by  them.2 

Notwithstanding  that  both  the  cause  and  remedy  of  these 
frequent  outbreaks  of  field  mice  were  apparent,  the  de- 
struction of  their  natural  enemies  by  man  still  goes  on.  In 
1875—76  a  noted  outbreak  of  mice  occurred  in  the  borders  of 
Roxburghshire,  Selkirkshire,  and  Dumfriesshire,  also  in  parts 
of  Yorkshire.  The  abundance  of  the  mice  attracted  Hawks, 
Owls,  and  foxes  in  unusual  numbers.  In  1892  an  alarming 
increase  of  these  field  mice  again  occurred  in  the  south  of 
Scotland.  In  Roxburgh  and  Dumfries  alone  the  plague  was 
estimated  to  have  extended  over  an  area  of  eighty  thousand  to 
ninety  thousand  acres.3  A  preponderance  of  opinion  among 
farmers  was  reported,  tracing  the  cause  of  this  outbreak  to 
the  scarcity  of  Owls,  Hawks,  weasels,  and  other  so-called 
vermin.  All  these  animals,  and  Crows  also,  are  to  be 
ranged  among  the  natural  enemies  of  mice.  The  state- 

1  See  Journal  of  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society,  1892,  p.  223,  and  papers  there 
cited. 

2  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1754,  Vol.  24,  p.  215. 

3  Report  to  the  Board  of  Agriculture  on  the  Plague  of  Field  Mice  or  Voles  in 
the  South  of  Scotland,  1892. 


78  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


ment  made  by  Childrey  as  to  the  assemblage  of  Owls  when 
the  field  mice  swarmed  in  Essex  in  1580  received  confirma- 
tion during  1892.  Local  observers  reported  that,  after  the 
great  increase  of  voles  was  noticed,  the  Short-eared  Owl 
(  Otus  brachyotus}  became  much  more  numerous  on  the  hill 
farms,  and  that  many  pairs,  contrary  to  precedent,  remained 
to  breed. 

Dr.  W.  B.  Wall  expresses  the  opinion,  from  his  experience 
with  the  pests,  that  their  chief  enemies  are  the  Owl  and  the 
Kestrel  (a  Hawk),  which  do  more  to  reduce  their  ranks  than 
all  the  traps  of  the  farmers  and  the  "microbes  of  the  scien- 
tists" combined.  Both  farmers  and  game  keepers  in  England 
and  Scotland  are  inclined  to  regard  these  birds  as  vermin,  to 
be  shot  at  sight. 

In  some  parts  of  the  United  States  the  destruction  of  the 
natural  enemies  of  rodents  by  man  has  been  so  complete  that 
these  animals  have  greatly  increased  in  numbers.  Prairie 
hares,  or  Jack  rabbits,  as  they  are  called,  became  so  numer- 
ous in  some  States  at  times  that  they  could  not  be  kept  in 
check  by  ordinary  hunting,  and  the  people  of  whole  town- 
ships congregated  to  drive  them  into  great  pens,  where 
thousands  were  killed  with  clubs.  Gophers  or  spermophiles 
have  so  increased  in  numbers  that  they  have  become  pests. 
Farmers  have  been  obliged  to  resort  to  extraordinary  meas- 
ures to  destroy  them.  In  Montana  such  large  sums  were 
paid  out  in  six  months  of  1887  in  bounties  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  ground  squirrels  or  gophers  and  prairie  dogs,  that 
a  special  session  of  the  Legislature  was  called  to  repeal  the 
law,  lest  it  should  bankrupt  the  State. 

In  New  England  our  common  hares  (miscalled  rabbits) 
are  kept  in  check  in  thickly  settled  regions  by  hunters ;  but 
the  field  mice,  which  are  not  subject  to  this  check,  have 
increased  so  rapidly  in  many  localities  that  during  the  hard 
winters  of  1903-04  and  1904-05  thousands  of  young  fruit 
trees  in  the  New  England  States  were  attacked  by  them  and 
ruined.  These  mice  have  become  so  numerous  that  in  some 
places  young  trees  cannot  be  grown  unless  protected  from 
them.  They  also  destroy  a  great  quantity  of  grass  and  grain , 
some  small  fruit,  and  vegetables.  Unfortunately,  the  food 
habits  of  these  little  animals  have  never  been  fully  studied. 


Screech  Owl 


PLATE   VIII.  — A  Useful  Mouse-eating  Owl.     (From  Wan-en, 
after  Audubou.) 


80  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


small  Owls  I  have  almost  invariably  found  that  the  food 
consisted  very  largely  of  field  mice  and  wood  mice,  with  a 
few  shrews,  and  rarely  a  bird  or  two.  Several  species  of 
Hawks  seem  to  feed  almost  entirely  on  field  mice,  small 
reptiles,  batrachians,  and  insects. 

The  young  of  Hawks  and  Owls  remain  a  long  time  in  the 
nest,  and  require  a  great  quantity  of  food.  They  probably 
tax  the  resources  of  the  parent  birds  excessively  in  the  effort 
to  find  enough  food  for  them  ;  hence  some  species  are  forced 
to  commit  depredations  on  the  poultry  yard,  while  a  few  kill 
birds  and  poultry  from  choice.  But  most  of  these  birds  are, 
on  the  whole,  useful  to  the  farmer.  Dr.  Fisher,  having  ex- 
amined the  contents  of  two  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety 
stomachs  of  Hawks  and  Owls  from  various  parts  of  the  United 
States,  and  collected  the  evidence  of  many  observers,  con- 
cludes that  Owls  are  among  the  most  beneficial  of  all  birds  ; 
and  that  Hawks,  with  possibly  one  or  two  exceptions,  are  in 
some  degree  beneficial  to  the  farmer. 

THE  VALUE   OF   WATER-BIRDS   AND   SHORE   BIRDS. 

Many  shore  birds  are  to  some  extent  insectivorous.  Many 
Gulls  and  Terns  might  be  reckoned  among  the  friends  of  the 
farmer,  were  they  fully  protected  by  law  and  public  senti- 
ment, as  they  now  are  in  some  countries  and  in  some  west- 
ern localities  in  our  own  country.  But  here  they  have  been 
so  persecuted  that  they  usually  keep  well  away  from  the 
vicinity  of  field  and  farm.  Even  as  it  is,  however,  they  ren- 
der some  service  to  man.  Certain  water-birds  are  useful  to 
navigators,  fishermen,  and  pilots.  In  thick  summer  weather 
the  appearance  of  Terns  or  Gulls  in  numbers,  or  the  sound 
of  their  clamorous  voices,  gives  warning  to  the  mariner  that 
he  is  nearing  the  rocks  on  which  they  breed.  Shore  fisher- 
men enshrouded  in  fog  can  tell  the  direction  of  the  islands 
on  which  the  birds  live  by  watching  their  undeviating  flight 
homeward  with  food  for  their  young.  The  keen  senses  of 
sea  birds  enable  them  to  head  direct  for  their  nests,  even  in 
dense  mist.  Fishermen  often  discover  schools  of  fish  by 
watching  the  sea  birds,  that,  like  the  larger  fish,  pursue  the 
small  fry. 


^o^r^ 

k    ^&i£^ 


PLATE  IX.  —  Regurgitated  Owl  Pellets.  These  pellets,  composed 
of  bones  and  fur,  also  feathers  of  a  Robin,  were  left  near  authors 
house  bv  Screech  Owls. 


PLATE  X.  —  The  Same  Pellets,  dissected.  The  fur  is  shown  in  a 
pile  on  the  right,  and,  on  the  left,  portions  of  skulls  and  other 
bones  of  mice,  shrews,  and  moles,  eaten  by  the  Owls. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO    MAN.  81 

Navigators  approaching  their  home  port  during  seasons 
of  bird  migration  welcome  the  appearance  of  familiar  land 
birds  which  are  seen  while  land  is  still  far  out  of  sight.  Mr. 
Frank  M.  Chapman  has  shown,  in  an  interesting  paper  on 
the  ornithology  of  the  first  voyage  of  Columbus,  that  we 
possibly  owe  the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus  to  the 
fact  that  he  happened  to  approach  the  land  at  the  right  time 
and  place  to  cross  the  line  of  the  fall  flight  of  land  birds  that 
were  going  from  the  Bermudas  to  the  Bahamas  and  Antilles. 
The  discouraged  seamen  were  on  the  verge  of  mutiny,  and 
might  have  compelled  Columbus  to  return  to  Spain,  had  not 
small  land  birds  come  aboard  unwearied  and  singing.  The 
course  of  the  vessel  was  changed  to  correspond  with  the 
direction  of  their  flight,  and  the  voyage  was  thus  shortened 
two  hundred  miles  and  pursued  to  its  end.1 

The  well-known  services  of  Vultures,  which  destroy  gar- 
bage and  carrion  in  the  tropics,  have  no  real  counterpart  in 
the  north.  Crows  are  of  some  use,  but  Gulls  and  other 
water-birds  are  most  valuable  to  man  in  this  respect,  in  that 
they  devour  the  garbage  and  refuse  that  are  cast  into  harbors 
and  arms  of  the  sea,  thus  undoubtedly  preventing  the  pollu- 
tion of  many  bays  and  beaches  by  floating  filth  and  refuse 
from  great  cities. 

Sea  birds  must  be  reckoned  among  the  chief  agencies  which 
have  rendered  many  rocky  or  sandy  islands  fit  for  human 
habitation.  The  service  performed  by  birds  in  fertilizing, 
soil-building,  and  seed-sowing  on  many  barren  islands  has 
entitled  our  feathered  friends  to  the  gratitude  of  many  a 
shipwrecked  sailor,  who  must  else  have  perished  miserably 
on  barren,  storm-beaten  shores. 

THE    COMMERCIAL   VALUE   OF   BIRDS. 

In  all  the  foregoing  we  have  considered  mainly  "  the  good 
offices  that  birds  voluntarily  take  upon  themselves  in  our 
service."  We  have  yet  to  take  into  account  the  tax  which 
we  impose  upon  them  for  our  own  revenue  of  profit  or 
pleasure,  —  a  tax  which  we  collect  unsparingly,  and  with  the 
strong  hand  of  force. 

1  Papers  presented  at  the  World's  Congress  on  Ornithology,  1896,  pp.  181-185. 


82  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


This  tribute  of  flesh,  blood,  and  feather  is  levied  largely 
upon  those  orders  of  birds  which  in  domestication  become 
poultry,  and  in  the  wild  state  are  known  as  game  birds ;  but 
many  small  land  birds  have  become  victims  of  man's  greed, 
and  the  sea  birds  have  been  forced  to  contribute  to  his  food 
supply. 

The  eggs  of  certain  Gulls,  Terns,  Herons,  Murres,  and 
Ducks  that  breed  in  large  colonies  find  a  ready  sale  in  the 
market,  or  furnish  a  part  of  the  food  supply  of  the  people 
who  live  near  these  breeding  places.  Wholesale  egging  was 
carried  on  along  the  coast  of  Massachusetts  and  other  New 
England  States,  until  the  Gulls  and  Terns  were  in  most  cases 
driven  away  from  their  breeding  places.  The  inhabitants 
along  the  shores  of  the  southern  States,  as  well  as  those 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  gathered  the  eggs  of  the  sea  birds  by 
boatloads  for  many  years.  For  nearly  fifty  years  Murres' 
eggs  were  collected  on  the  Farallone  Islands  and  shipped 
to  the  San  Francisco  market.  It  is  said  that  in  1854  more 
than  five  hundred  thousand  eggs  were  sold  there  in  less  than 
two  months.  This  must  have  been  an  important  item  in  the 
food  supply  of  the  young  and  growing  city.  Mr.  H.  W. 
Elliot  mentions  that  on  the  occasion  of  his  first  visit  to 
Walrus  Island  in  the  Behring  Sea  six  men  loaded  a  badarrah, 
carrying  four  tons,  to  the  water's  edge  with  Murres'  eggs. 
On  Laysan,  one  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  there  is  a  great 
breeding  place  of  an  Albatross  (Diomedea  immutabilis) . 
Such  immense  quantities  of  their  eggs  have  been  gathered 
that  cars  have  been  loaded  with  them.1  All  this  egg  collect- 
ing, however,  should  be  stopped,  for  it  tends  to  exterminate 
the  birds,  and  all  the  eggs  needed  for  human  consumption 
can  be  produced  by  poultry. 

Sea  birds  which  breed  on  isolated  islands  or  barren  shores 
feed  mainly  on  animal  food,  which  they  get  from  the  sea. 
Guano  consists  of  the  excreta  and  ejecta  of  sea  birds,  mixed 
with  the  remains  of  birds,  fish,  and  other  animals.  It  is  found 
on  the  gathering  places  of  these  birds.  In  the  rainless  lati- 

1  A  Review  of  Economic  Ornithology  in  the  United  States,  by  Dr.  T.  S. 
Palmer.  Yearbook,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  1899,  pp.  271,  272. 
See  this  paper  also  for  an  account  of  the  guano  trade. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  83 

tudes  of  the  Pacific,  near  the  equator,  guano  once  accumulated 
in  tremendous  deposits.  It  dried  quickly,  and  where  there 
were  no  rains  to  wash  it  away  it  was  preserved  with  most  of  its 
fertilizing  constituents  intact.  The  guano  found  on  islands 
outside  the  dry  latitudes  is  of  less  value,  as  its  nitrogen  is 
quickly  washed  out  or  dissipated.  The  importance  of  guano 
as  a  fertilizer  was  recognized  in  Peru  by  the  Indians  more 
than  three  centuries  ajjo.  Under  the  Incas  the  birds  on  the 
Chincha  Islands  were  carefully  protected,  and  the  deposits 
of  guano  jealously  guarded.  It  is  said  that  the  penalty  of 
death  was  inflicted  on  any  one  who  killed  birds  near  these 
rocks  in  the  breeding  season. 

Humboldt,  returning  from  his  travels  in  tropical  America 
in  1804,  carried  some  samples  of  guano  to  Europe,  and  first 
called  attention  to  the  value  of  the  deposits  of  this  substance 
on  the  Chincha  Islands ;  but  it  was  nearly  forty  years  later 
that  guano  became  a  stimulus  to  intensive  agriculture,  and 
furnished  a  source  of  revenue  to  civilized  nations.  The  vast 
deposits  on  these  three  islands  covered  the  rocks  in  some 
places  to  a  depth  of  ninety  or  one  hundred  feet.  The  amount 
still  undisturbed  in  1853  was  estimated  by  the  official  sur- 
veyors of  the  Peruvian  government  as  twelve  million,  three 
hundred  and  seventy-six  thousand,  one  hundred  tons.  Its 
use  was  first  attempted  in  England  in  1840  ;  at  that  time  the 
beds  seemed  inexhaustible.  The  guano  trade  soon  became 
so  important  as  to  be  a  source  of  diplomatic  correspondence 
between  nations.  It  is  said  to  have  brought  Peru  and  Chile 
to  the  verge  of  war.  By  1850  the  price  of  Peruvian  guano 
had  advanced  in  the  United  States  to  fifty  dollars  a  ton,  and 
American  enterprise  began  to  seek  guano  elsewhere. 

Americans  have  since  filed  with  the  government  claims 
to  about  seventy-five  guano  islands  in  the  South  Pacific  or 
in  the  Caribbean  Sea.  The  vast  deposits  on  the  Chinchas 
are  nearly  exhausted,  and  fertilizers  are  now  manufactured  to 
supply  the  demand.  Undoubtedly,  however,  the  discovery 
and  use  of  guano  marked  the  beginning  of  the  present  enor- 
mous trade  in  commercial  fertilizers.  The  manurial  value 
of  the  phosphoric  acid  and  nitrogen  contained  in  fish  has 
now  become  quite  generally  recognized,  and  fleets  of  small 


84  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


vessels  are  employed  in  seining  menhaden  and  other  fish  for 
use  in  the  manufacture  of  fertilizers. 

Notwithstanding  the  value  of  birds  to  man  as  destroyers 
of  insects  and  vermin,  they  are  killed  and  utilized  by  him 
in  various  ways. 

The  destruction  of  game  birds  has  been  so  great  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  the  demand  so  much  in  excess  of  the  supply, 
that  birds  are  now  imported  from  other  States  and  from 
other  countries.  It  is  becoming  a  serious  question,  with 
those  most  interested,  how  we  shall  so  regulate  the  shooting 
of  game  birds  that  the  supply  may  be  kept  up.  The  game 
birds  of  America  have  a  great  intrinsic  value  as  game.  The 
flesh  of  many  is  considered  to  rank  high  among  delicacies. 
The  pursuit  of  these  birds  has  formed  a  large  part  of  the 
occupation  of  many  members  of  the  rural  population  during 
the  shooting  seasons,  and  a  vast  business  has  grown  out  of 
the  traffic  in  birds'  flesh.  An  enormous  game  business  has 
been  carried  on  by  provision  dealers  in  this  country,  and  the 
demand  for  game  is  continually  increasing.  Few  accurate 
statistics  of  the  amount  of  game  sold  are  obtainable ;  but 
Mr.  D.  G.  Elliot,  writing  in  1864,  states  that  one  dealer  in 
New  York  was  known  to  receive  twenty  tons  of  Prairie 
Chickens  in  one  consignment,  and  that  some  of  the  larger 
poultry  dealers  were  estimated  to  have  sold  from  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  to  two  hundred  thousand  game  birds 
in  the  course  of  six  months.1 

The  killing  of  birds  for  sport  has  a  certain  economic  affin- 
ity with  market  hunting,  in  that  it  supports  a  large  trade  in 
guns,  ammunition,  boats,  dogs,  and  all  the  tools,  appliances, 
and  impedimenta  of  the  sportsman .  It  furnishes  employment 
to  guides,  dog  breakers,  and  boatmen,  and  helps  support 
many  country  hostelries  and  seaside  hotels.  The  manufac- 
ture of  firearms  and  ammunition  for  sportsmen  has  become 
a  great  industry.  Altogether,  many  thousands  of  men  are 
dependent  for  a  part  of  their  livelihood  on  the  killing  of 
game  for  sport  or  food,  while  a  still  larger  army  finds  its 
chief  outdoor  recreation  in  the  pursuit  of  game  birds.  The 

1  Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  1864,  pp.  383, 384. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  85 

value  of  game  birds  to  the  farmer,  epicure,  marketman,  and 
sportsman  should  insure  them  the  most  stringent  protection. 
Nevertheless,  some  of  the  migratory  species,  through  lack 
of  effectual  protection,  have  already  been  so  reduced  in  num- 
bers that  they  are  no  longer  of  any  commercial  importance. 
The  domestication  of  birds  probably  was  coincident  with 
that  of  animals,  and  grew  from  the  desire  of  the  primitive 
agriculturist  to  have  always  at  hand  a  fresh  supply  of  deli- 
cate and  nutritious  animal  food.  Xo  other  animals  can  ever 
be  so  adapted  to  the  environments  of  civilization  as  to  fur- 
nish us  with  a  similarly  valuable  supply  of  both  meat  and 

eggs- 

The  poultry  business  of  this  country  has  grown  to  such 
importance  that  the  total  value  of  the  annual  poultry  prod- 
uct has  reached  nearly  three  hundred  million  dollars.  Mas- 
sachusetts imported  probably  about  eighteen  million  dollars' 
worth  of  poultry  products  in  1903.  When  we  consider  that 
in  all  the  centuries  the  w^ork  of  domestication  has  included 
but  a  few  species,  it  is  evident  that  the  possibilities  in  this 
direction  have  not  been  exhausted. 

Within  the  last  half-century  fashion  has  been  responsible 
for  the  killing  of  millions  of  birds  for  the  millinery  trade. 
This  trade  is  now  limited  by  laws  making  it  illegal  to  kill  or 
use  most  native  birds,  except  game  birds,  for  this  purpose. 
Instances  of  the  destruction  of  birds  for  millinery  purposes 
will  be  given  in  another  chapter.  The  American  demand 
for  feathers  for  ornamental  uses  is  now  largely  met  by 
articles  manufactured  from  the  feathers  of  domestic  fowls 
and  game  birds.  The  demand  for  Ostrich  plumes  has  re- 
sulted in  the  establishment  of  a  new  industry  in  America,  — 
the  raising  of  Ostriches. 

There  has  been  a  growing  demand  for  American  song  birds 
for  cage  purposes  ;  but  this  traffic  is  now  prohibited  by  law. 

THE   AESTHETIC,    SENTIMENTAL,    AND    EDUCATIONAL 
VALUE   OF   BIRDS. 

Thus  far  I  have  written  solely  from  the  standpoint  of 
"enlightened  selfishness,"  entertaining  no  consideration  of 
the  aesthetic,  humane,  sentimental,  or  educational.  I  have 


86  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


attempted  to  look  at  birds  solely  from  the  utilitarian  point 
of  view,  and  to  demonstrate  the  fact  that  their  contributions 
to  man's  welfare  have  at  least  a  material  value.  Xow  let  us 
turn  for  a  moment  from  the  contemplation  of  such  utility 
of  birds  as  money  can  measure  to  "  some  of  the  higher  and 
nobler  uses  which  birds  subserve  to  man."  In  so  doing  we 
step  at  once  from  the  beaten  path  of  economic  ornithology 
into  a  boundless  realm,  sacred  to  art,  letters,  sentiment, 
and  poetry  on  the  one  hand,  while  on  the  other  lie  the  fair 
fields  in  which  we  may  take  up,  if  we  will,  the  fascinating 
study  of  birds,  which  may  end  merely  in  delightful  experi- 
ences, or  lead  to  the  class  room,  the  museum,  the  laboratory, 
or  the  closet  of  the  systematist.  Wherever  it  may  lead  us, 
this  phase  of  our  subject  is  of  the  highest  importance,  and 
demands  the  most  serious  consideration .  Although  presented 
last,  its  benefactions  should  perhaps  come  first  among  the 
items  which  go  to  make  up  the  sum  of  our  indebtedness  to 
birds. 

The  beauty  of  birds,  the  music  of  their  songs,  the  weird 
wildness  of  their  calls,  the  majesty  of  their  soaring  flight, 
the  mystery  of  their  migrations,  have  ever  been  subjects  of 
absorbing  interest  to  poets,  artists,  and  nature  lovers  every- 
where. Prominent  among  the  und}ring  memories  of  men 
are  mental  pictures  of  the  birds  of  childhood,  their  coming 
in  the  spring,  their  nesting,  and  their  chosen  haunts.  Many 
an  exiled  emigrant  longs  in  vain  to  hear  again  the  outpour- 
ing melody  of  the  Skylark,  as  it  soars  above  the  fields  of 
England.  Many  a  New  England  boy,  shut  in  by  western 
mountains,  yearns  for  the  bubbling,  joyous  song  of  the  Bob- 
olink in  the  June  meadows.  The  characters  and  traits  of 
birds,  their  loves  and  battles,  their  skill  in  home  building, 

O" 

their  devotion  to  their  young,  their  habits  and  ways, — all 
are  of  human  interest.  Birds  have  become  symbolic  of  cer- 
tain human  characteristics ;  and  so  the  common  species  have 
come  to  be  so  interwoven  with  our  art  and  literature  that 
their  names  are  household  words.  What  biblical  scholar  is 
not  familiar  with  the  birds  of  the  Bible  ?  Shakespeare  makes 
over  six  hundred  references  to  birds  or  bird  life.  Much  of 
the  best  literature  would  lose  half  its  charm  were  it  shorn  of 
poetic  allusions  to  birds. 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  87 

Birds  often  have  inspired  the  poets.  Bryant's  lines  "  To 
a  Water-fowl,"  and  Shelley's  "  Skylark,"  each  exhibit  a  phase 
of  such  inspiration.  These  are  but  instances  of  the  stimu- 
lating power  exerted  on  the  mind  of  man  by  the  bird  and 
its  associations.  Some  of  the  grandest  poems  ever  written 
have  been  dependent  on  their  authors'  observation  of  birds 
for  some  touch  of  nature  which  has  helped  to  render  them 
immortal.  Thus  Gray,  in  his  famed  "  Elegy  written  in  a 
Country  Churchyard  "  :  — 

The  breezy  call  of  incense-breathing  morn, 
The  Swallow  twittering  from  the  straw-built  shed, 

The  Cock's  shrill  clarion,  or  the  echoing  horn, 
Xo  more  shall  rouse  them  from  their  lowly  bed. 

Who,  reared  in  a  country  home,  can  fail,  as  he  reads 
these  lines,  to  recall  the  twittering  of  the  Swallows  under 
the  spreading  rafters  in  the  cool  of  early  morning?  The 
mental  contemplation  of  that  peaceful  pastoral  scene,  the 
train  of  tender  recollections  of  the  time  of  youth  and  inno- 
cence, all  tending  toward  better  impulses  and  higher  aspira- 
tions, are  largely  due  to  the  mention  of  the  familiar  bird  in 
its  association  with  the  home  of  childhood.  Is  not  literature 
the  richer  for  the  following  lines  of  Longfellow  in  his  "Birds 
of  Passage"? 

Above,  in  the  light 

Of  the  star-lit  night, 

Swift  birds  of  passage  wing  their  flight 

Through  the  dewy  atmosphere. 

I  hear  the  beat 

Of  their  pinions  fleet, 

As  from  the  land  of  snow  and  sleet 

They  seek  a  southern  lea. 

How  much  of  life  and  color  the  presence  of  birds  adds  to 
the  landscape  !  The  artist  appreciates  this.  What  marine 
view  is  complete  without  its  Gulls  in  flight?  How  much  a 
flock  of  wild-fowl  adds  to  a  lake  or  river  scene  ! 

Birds  are  a  special  boon  to  child  life,  and  a  never-ending 
source  of  entertainment  to  many  children  who  live  upon 
isolated  farms,  where  the  observation  of  birds'  habits  adds 
greatly  to  the  rational  enjoyment  of  existence. 

It  is  not  a  far  cry  from  the  poet  to  the  philosopher,  and 


88  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


he  also  sees  a  value  in  birds  for  the  opportunity  they  afford 
for  the  culture  of  the  intellect.  Every  page  of  the  book  of 
nature  is  educational.  But,  as  Dr.  Coues  says,  there  is  no 
fairer  or  more  fascinating  page  than  that  devoted  to  the  life 
history  of  a  bird.  The  systematic  study  of  birds  develops 
both  the  observational  faculties  and  the  analytical  qualities 
of  the  mind.  The  study  of  the  living  bird  afield  is  rejuve- 
nating to  both  mind  and  body.  The  outdoor  use  of  eye,  ear, 
and  limb,  necessitated  by  field  work,  tends  to  fit  both  the 
body  and  mind  of  the  student  for  the  practical  work  of  life, 
for  it  develops  both  members  and  faculties.  It  brings  one 
into  contact  with  nature,  — out  into  the  sunlight,  where  balmy 
airs  stir  the  whispering  pines,  or  fresh  breezes  ripple  the  blue 
water.  There  is  no  purer  joy  in  life  than  that  which  may 
come  to  all  who,  rising  in  the  dusk  of  early  morning,  wel- 
come the  approach  of  day  with  all  its  bird  voices.  The  nature 
lover  who  listens  to  the  song  of  the  Wood  Thrush  at  dawn 
—  an  anthem  of  calm,  serene,  spiritual  joy,  sounding  through 
the  dim  woods — hears  it  with  feelings  akin  to  those  of  the 
devotee  whose  being  is  thrilled  by  the  grand  and  sacred  music 
of  the  sanctuary.  And  he  who,  in  the  still  forest  at  even- 
ing, harkens  to  the  exquisite  notes  of  the  Hermit,  —  that 
voice  of  nature,  expressing  in  sweet  cadences  her  pathos  and 
her  ineffable  mystery,  —  experiences  amid  the  falling  shades 
of  night  emotions  which  must  humble,  chasten,  and  purify 
even  the  most  upright  and  virtuous  of  men. 

The  uplifting  influence  that  birds  may  thus  exert  upon  the 
lives  of  men  constitutes  to  many  their  greatest  value  and 
charm.  A  growing  appreciation  of  the  sesthetic  and  the  edu- 
cational value  of  birds  has  sent  many  cultured  folk  to  the 
woods,  fields,  and  shores.  People  are  turning  toward  nature 
study,  and  the  observation  of  birds  in  the  field  is  one  of  the 
most  popular  manifestations  of  an  increased  and  abiding  in- 
terest in  nature.  To  the  utilitarian  this  movement  has  an 
economic  aspect.  Students  who  have  become  familiar  with 
the  common  birds  of  their  own  vicinity  long  for  new  fields 
and  new  birds.  Let  a  well-known  writer  describe  in  print  any 
locality  in  Massachusetts  where  rare  or  interesting  birds  are 
to  be  found,  and  soon  some  of  his  readers  will  be  upon  the 


VALUE    OF  BIRDS    TO   MAN.  89 

ground .  This  travelling  about  of  those  in  search  of  birds  bids 
fair  eventually  to  assume  considerable  proportions,  and  can- 
not fail  to  be  of  some  pecuniary  importance  to  transportation 
companies,  as  well  as  to  those  who  minister  to  the  wants  of 
man  and  beast.  Many  people  prefer  to  spend  their  vacations 
in  localities  where  both  the  larger  and  smaller  birds  are  plen- 
tiful. Thus  the  aesthetic  value  of  the  soaring  Hawk  or  the 
wading  Heron  becomes  of  practical  importance  to  the  farmer 
and  hotel  keeper  who  are  looking  for  summer  boarders. 
People  of  means  are  fully  sensible  of  the  many  advantages 
of  life  in  the  country,  and  are  making  homes  for  themselves 
on  our  farms.  But  a  merchant  prince  who  established  such 
a  home  found  his  enjoyment  of  the  place  greatly  abridged  by 
the  scarcity  of  birds.  With  the  growing  interest  in  birds, 
towns  or  localities  where  birds  are  plentiful  will  have  an 
added  value  as  places  of  residence. 

Possibly,  however,  the  greatest  boon  that  the  study  of 
birds  can  confer  upon  man  is  seen  in  the  power  of  the  bird 
lover  to  keep  his  spirit  young.  One  who  in  his  early  years 
is  attracted  to  the  study  of  birds  will  find  that  with  them  he 
always  renews  his  youth.  Each  spring  the  awakening  year 
encompasses  him  with  a  flood  of  joyous  bird  life.  Old  friends 
are  they  who  greet  him,  and  they  come  as  in  the  days  of 
childhood,  bringing  tidings  of  good  cheer.  Thus  it  is  ever. 
Years  roll  on,  youth  passes,  the  homes  and  woods  of  our 
childhood  disappear,  the  head  becomes  bowed  with  sorrow 
and  frosted  by  the  snows  of  time,  the  strong  hand  trembles, 
the  friends  of  youth  pass  away  ;  but  with  each  returning  spring 
the  old  familiar  bird  songs  of  our  childhood  come  back  to 
us,  still  unchanged  by  the  passing  years.  The  birds  turn 
back,  for  us,  the  flight  of  time.  Their  songs  are  voices 
from  our  vanished  youth.  Let  us,  then,  teach  our  children 
to  love  and  protect  the  birds,  that  these  familiar  friends  of 
their  childhood  may  remain  to  cheer  them  with  song  and 
beauty,  when,  toward  the  sunset  of  life,  the  shadows  will 
grow  long  upon  the  pathway. 


90  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  UTILITY  OF  BIRDS  IN  WOODLANDS. 

Massachusetts  contains  very  little  land  that  can  be  digni- 
fied by  the  name  of  forest.  She  has  practically  no  forests 
such  as  are  cared  for  by  European  States,  nor  has  she  any 
extensive  primeval  wilderness  of  trees  such  as  still  exist  on 
some  western  mountain  ranges  ;  nevertheless,  a  large  area 
of  the  State  is  forested  with  coppice  growth  or  seedling 
trees,  which  are  usually  allowed  to  grow  from  thirty  to  fifty 
years,  and  are  then  cut  for  either  firewood  or  lumber. 

While  this  large  area  of  woodland  produces  comparatively 
little  valuable  timber,  its  aggregate  value,  as  estimated  in 
the  census  of  1895,  is  twenty-three  million,  nine  hundred 
and  thirty-six  thousand,  three  hundred  and  sixty- two  dol- 
lars. It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  for  the  preservation 
of  this  great  woodland  estate  from  the  ravages  of  insects  we 
are  largely  indebted  to  birds.  The  service  that  birds  per- 
form in  protecting  woodland  trees  is  more  nearly  indispen- 
sable to  man  than  any  other  benefit  they  confer  on  him ;  for 
the  money  value  of  forest  trees,  while  large  in  the  aggre- 
gate, is  not  ordinarily  great  enough  to  pay  the  owners  to 
protect  them  against  their  many  enemies,  even  if  this  were 
possible.  The  little  things  of  life  are  the  most  difficult  for 
man  to  control.  The  wild  animals  and  venomous  serpents 
of  the  woods  he  may  exterminate  ;  but  insects,  which  are 
even  more  dangerous  to  human  life  or  property,  will  still 
possess  the  land.  Were  the  natural  enemies  of  forest  in- 
sects annihilated,  every  tree  in  our  woods  would  be  threat- 
ened with  destruction,  and  man  would  be  powerless  to 
prevent  the  calamity.  He  might  make  shift  to  save  some 
orchard  or  shade  trees ;  he  might  find  means  to  raise  some 
garden  crops ;  but  the  protection  of  all  the  trees  in  all  the 
woods  would  be  beyond  his  powers.  Yet  this  herculean  task 
ordinarily  is  accomplished  as  a  matter  of  course  by  birds  and 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IN   WOODLANDS.  91 

other  insectivorous  creatures,  without  trouble  or  expense  to 
man,  and  without  appreciable  injury  to  his  great  woodland 
interests. 

Birds  attain  their  greatest  usefulness  in  the  woods,  mainly 
because  the  conditions  there  closely  approach  the  natural, 
and  organic  nature  has  an  opportunity  to  adjust  her  balances 
without  much  human  interference.  Man  may  be  supreme  in 
the  garden,  field,  or  orchard,  but  in  the  woods  nature  reigns. 
There  her  laws,  unhampered,  operate  for  the  good  of  her 
children. 

THE  RELATIONS  OF  THE  BIRD  TO  THE  TREE. 

A  mere  glance  at  the  economy  of  the  forest  shows  us  a 
series  of  interrelations  and  interdependences  existing  be- 
tween the  bird  and  the  tree.  Mr.  Frank  M.  Chapman  thus 
indicates  tersely  and  clearly  the  nature  of  these  relations  :  — 

Between  birds  and  forests  there  exist  what  may  be  termed  primeval, 
economic  relations.  Certain  forest  trees  have  their  natural  insect  foes, 
to  which  they  furnish  food  and  shelter ;  and  these  insects,  in  turn,  have 
their  natural  enemies  among  the  birds,  to  which  the  trees  also  give  a 
home.  Here,  then,  we  have  an  undisturbed  set  of  economic  relations  : 
(1)  the  tree ;  (2)  the  insect,  which  lives  in  the  tree,  preys  upon  it,  and 
may  assist  in  the  fertilization  of  its  blossoms  ;  (3)  the  bird,  which  also 
finds  a  home  in  the  tree,  and,  feeding  upon  insects,  prevents  their  un- 
due increase.  Hence  it  follows  that  the  existence  of  each  one  of  these 
forms  of  life  is  dependent  upon  the  existence  of  the  other.  Birds  are 
not  only  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  tree,  but  the  tree  is  necessary  to 
the  life  of  the  bird.  Consequently,  there  has  been  established  what  is 
termed  "a  balance  of  life,"  wherein  there  is  the  most  delicate  adjust- 
ment between  the  tree,  the  insect,  the  bird,  and  the  sum  total  of  the 
conditions  which  go  to  make  up  their  environment.  The  more  trees, 
the  greater  the  number  of  insects,  and  hence  an  increase  not  only  in 
food  supply  for  the  birds,  but  an  increase  in  the  number  of  nesting 
sites.1 

Nearly  all  the  wood  birds  are  dependent  upon  trees. 
Destroy  the  trees,  and  some  of  the  insects  might  find  new 
food  in  the  crops  of  the  fanner,  but  the  birds  lose  their  home 

1  The  Economic  Value  of  Birds  to  the  State,  by  Frank  M.  Chapman.  Sev- 
enth Annual  Report  of  the  Forest,  Fish  and  Game  Commission  of  New  York 
State,  1903,  p.  6. 


92  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


when  the  tree  falls.  Lacking  the  nesting  sites,  protection, 
and  shelter  once  afforded  them  among  the  trees,  they  must 
find  other  shelter,  or  perish.  The  interests  of  birds  and 
trees  are  identical,  and  each  must  protect  the  other  for  the 
good  of  all.  Birds  are  conspicuously  useful  in  distributing 
the  seed,  and  in  planting,  pruning,  and  protecting  the  trees. 

THE    FOREST    PLANTERS. 

If  we  take  a  white  pine  cone,  containing  seeds,  break  it 
open  and  examine  a  seed,  we  find  that  it  is  enveloped  in  a 
membrane  with  a  wing-like  appendage.  Xow  take  the  seed 
and  toss  it  into  the  air,  and  it  will  descend  to  the  ground  with 
a  rotary  motion,  like  that  of  a  pickerel 
spoon  when  drawn  through  the  water. 
As  the  seed  descends,  its  wing  in  rotat- 
.— The  winged  seed  ing  forms  a  spiral  plane  at  an  angle  with 

of  the  white  pine.  ,,        j.         ..  f   .,      j 

the  direction  01  its  descent,  serving  as 

a  parachute  to  sustain  it  in  the  air.  If  there  is  the  slightest 
breeze,  the  seed  floats  off  upon  it  and  descends  diagonally 
to  the  ground.  The  phenomenon  is  much  the  same  as  that 
observed  in  falling  seeds  of  the  ash  and  some  other  deciduous 
trees.  Such  seeds  are  winged,  like  the  pine  seed,  for  dis- 
tribution. Although  they  will  not  float  on  a  gentle  breeze, 
like  thistle  or  dandelion  seeds,  still,  in  a  strong  wind  they 
are  carried  fifteen  or  twenty  rods,  or  more.  When  pine 
seeds  fall  to  the  ground  they  soon  separate  from  their  wings. 
A  heavy  washing  rain  or  the  foot  of  some  animal  may  bury 
them  with  earth  mould,  or  falling  leaves  may  cover  them, 
and  the  planting  is  done.  Should  they  fall  upon  the  surface 
of  a  lake,  the  gentle  breeze  would  waft  them  along  over  the 
surface,  like  a  fleet  of  little  boats,  to  islands  or  distant  shores  ; 
should  they  fall  upon  a  stream,  they  would  float  away  with 
the  current. 

Although  the  seeds  of  many  forest  trees  do  not  grow  their 
own  wings,  we  find  them  as  widely  distributed  as  the  seeds 
of  the  pine.  Notice  the  distribution  of  the  wild  cherry  along 
the  roadsides.  In  spring  we  see  here  and  there,  on  bushes 
or  trees,  the  webs  of  the  tent  caterpillar.  They  are  usually 
found  upon  the  apple  and  wild  cherry ;  and  if,  late  in  May, 


UTILITY   OF   BIRDS   IN   WOODLANDS.  93 

we  search  woods  and  fields,  along  walls  and  on  bushy  hill- 
sides, we  may  be  surprised  in  certain  years  to  find  wild 
cherry  trees  everywhere.  When  they  are  rendered  conspic- 
uous by  the  caterpillar  webs  they  bear,  we  see  how  they  are 
scattered  through  the  woods,  where  birds  that  fed  upon  the 
fruit  dropped  the  stones  as  they  flew.  It  is  a  law  of  nature 
that  the  destroyer  of  the  fruit  is  also  the  distributer  of  the 
seed. 

When  first  I  found  the  nest  of  the  Wood  Thrush,  some 
thirty-fiVe  years  ago,  I  noticed  that  after  the  young  had  flown, 
a  little  heap  of  cherry  stones,  polished  clean  and  white,  was 
left  in  the  nest.  I  did  not  know  at  the  time  how  the  birds 
were  able  to  do  this.  On  Oct.  21,  1890,  Mr.  Thomas 
Proctor  wrote  me  that  he  had  seen  similar  collections  of 
cherry  stones  in  the  nests  of  the  Wood  Thrush,  and  that  by 
keeping  individuals  of  the  species  in  captivity  he  had  learned 
that  they  swallowed  cherries  whole,  taking  several  in  suc- 
cession and  at  almost  regular  intervals  ;  and  that,  prior  to 
the  next  feeding,  they  expelled  the  polished  stones  by  the 
mouth.  This  is  a  provision  of  nature  for  the  distribution 
of  the  cherry  tree.  The  pits  found  in  the  nest  were  prob- 
ably left  there  by  the  young  birds  just  before  leaving  the 
nest ;  but  after  the  birds  have  flown  it  is  not  probable  that 
many  pits  are  left  together  in  the  same  place  except  when 
the  birds  are  at  roost.  The  cherry  stones  found  by  Mr. 
Proctor  in  the  nest  were,  he  said,  probably  such  as  are  known 
to  botanists  as  "escapes,"  or  varieties  which  have  escaped 
from  cultivation.  Much  of  the  planting  of  such  trees  is  due, 
no  doubt,  to  birds ;  but  wild  cherry  pits  are  oftener  planted 
by  their  agency.  Mr.  Proctor  wrote  that  he  had  kept 
several  hundred  birds  of  different  species,  and  that  he  had 
come  to  the  conclusion,  from  observation  of  their  feeding 
habits,  that  other  Thrushes  and  Warblers  in  general  reject  the 
larger  indigestible  portions  of  their  food  in  this  way. 

Mr.  Proctor  has  since  then  published  in  The  Auk  the 
results  of  his  observations  on  this  subject.  The  seeds  of 
berries  are  often  expelled  or  excreted  with  their  vitality 
unimpaired.  Thus  birds  arc  instrumental  in  extending  the 
growth  of  the  woodlands  and  thickets  in  which  they  dwell. 


94 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


One  day  I  noticed  a  young  pine  growing  some  ten  feet 
from  the  ground  in  the  fork  of  a  maple  by  the  roadside. 
There  Avere  no  other  pines  near.  What  planted  it  there? 
This  was  merely  an  illustration  of  the  fact  that  tree  seeds 
are  furnished  with  transportation  by  the  wings  or  legs  of 
animals  that  feed  upon  them. 

The  Jays  alight  in  the  tree  top ;  each  Jay  breaks  off  an 
acorn  with  his  feet,  hammers  it  open  with  his  beak,  and  eats 
the  kernel  on  the  spot,  or  carries  it  off  to  some  hiding  place, 


Pig.  31.  —  A  forest  planter.    The  Blue  Jay  lends  wings  to  the  acorn. 


sometimes  dropping  it  from  the  tree  or  while  flying,  appar- 
ently by  accident  or  for  no  purpose  except  perhaps  to  hear  it 
strike  the  earth.  A  sudden  fright  will  cause  a  bird  to  drop 
whatever  food  it  may  be  carrying.  Such  acorns  are  usually 
left  where  they  happen  to  fall. 

We  cannot  study  the  relations  of  birds  to  the  forest  with- 
out noting  also  the  important  part  that  squirrels  take  in  tree 
planting.  In  the  autumn  of  1897  the  mast  crop  was  light  in 
some  sections  of  eastern  Massachusetts,  but  here  and  there 
an  oak  tree  was  found  which  bore  a  good  crop.  Such  trees 
were  soon  discovered  by  the  Jays  and  squirrels,  several  of 
which  might  be  seen  gathering  the  acorns  from  each  tree. 
The  ground  squirrels  work  in  pairs,  as  do  the  squirrels  of 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IN   WOODLANDS.  95 

the  Pacific  coast,  one  climbing  the  tree  and  throwing  the 
acorns  down  to  the  other. 

Jays,  Crows,  and  squirrels  seem  to  have  a  mania  for  distrib- 
uting and  hiding  things.  I  recall  an  old  shellbark  hickory 
by  a  farmhouse  door,  the  crevices  of  its  ragged  bark  orna- 
mented with  walnuts,  tucked  in  here  and  there  all  over  the 
trunk.  Any  one  watching  the  Jays  and  squirrels  in  the  fall 
will  find  them  filling  crevices  with  nuts  or  seeds,  dropping 
nuts,  acorns,  corn,  and  other  things  into  cavities  and  hollows 
in  the  trees,  or  burying  them  in  the  leaf  mould  on  the 
ground. 

I  once  watched  a  Crow  killing  a  large,  brightly  colored 
beetle,  probably  Calosoma  scrutator,  which  it  buried  care- 
fully beneath  a  tuft  of  grass.  Returning  a  few  moments 
later,  the  sable  bird  unearthed  the  brilliant  insect,  carried  it 
away  and  buried  it  in  another  place.  In  a  pine  wood  in 
Medford,  on  April  16,  1897,  several  Crows  flew  from  the 
ground.  Here,  under  the  pines,  an  interrupted  feast  was 
found.  Crows,  Jays,  and  squirrels  had  been  digging  out 
stores  of  acorns  which  probably  had  been  buried  there  the 
previous  fall.  The  interrupted  diggers  had  left  six  acorns 
which  they  had  dug  from  one  hole ;  others  were  partly 
unearthed. 

It  is  said  that  squirrels  bite  off  the  germ  ends  of  the  acorns 
before  burving  them.  This  habit  has  never  come  under  my 
observation.  These  acorns  not  only  had  their  germ  ends 
intact,  but  seven  of  them  had  sprouted.  One  had  sent  the 
tap  root  down  four  inches  into  the  mould.  They  had  been 
carefully  set  with  the  points  downward,  as  if  by  a  squirrel, 
and  at  just  the  right  depth  for  planting.  A  man  could  not 
have  done  it  better.  They  were  deeply  covered  with  light 
mould  and  pine  needles.  Some  of  the  digging  looked  like 
the  work  of  squirrels,  but  marks  on  some  of  the  acorns  were 
apparently  made  by  the  beak  of  a  bird.  A  gray  squirrel 
was  seen  near  by.  Had  its  feast  been  interrupted  by  the 
Crows,  or  had  all  been  at  work  together?  How  could  the 
Crow  know  that  the  acorns  lay  buried  just  there?  Did  he 
remember  that  he  planted  them  ?  Had  he  seen  the  disturb- 
ance of  the  pine  needles,  caused  by  the  young  sprout?  Or 


96  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


had  he  watched  the  squirrel,  and  descended  to  rob  it  of  its 
stores  ?  Who  is  wise  enough  to  interpret  the  workings  of  a 
Crow's  mind?  Who  can  tell  how  far  its  perceptive  faculties 
will  serve,  or  mark  the  boundary  between  instinct  and  reason  ? 
We  may  say  that  some  creature  had  been  merely  storing  up 
food  against  a  season  of  want,  and  that  may  be  true,  but  it  is 
only  half  the  truth.  Many  of  the  seeds  which  are  dropped 
or  hidden  by  birds  and  squirrels  are  never  found  by  them 
again.  There  is  an  immense  amount  of  vitality  in  these 
animals,  which  must  be  expended  in  some  way.  When  the 
red  squirrel  is  not  eating,  sleeping,  providing  food  for  itself, 
or  getting  into  some  abominable  mischief,  it  is  usually  scold- 
ing or  chattering  in  profane  squirrel  language  at  some  in- 
truder, or  busy  burying  something  or  digging  it  up.  The 
squirrel  makes  its  journeys  back  and  forth,  burying  acorns, 
pine  seeds,  chestnuts,  beech  nuts,  and  hickory  nuts  in  secret 
places.  One  day,  however,  as  it  is  going  its  accustomed 
way  up  the  walnut  tree,  a  Hawk  swoops  down,  and  the 
squirrel  is  no  more.  That  squirrel  has  stored  up  a  supply 
of  food  which  it  will  never  gather.  As  Thoreau  says,  it  has 
planted  "a  hickory  wood  for  all  creation."  That  Hawk 
has  protected  the  planted  seed. 

The  part  ordinarily  taken  by  birds  in  forest  planting  is  not 
so  conspicuous  as  that  of  the  squirrels,  but  it  results  in  a 
wider  distribution  of  seed.  The  birds  and  squirrels  destroy 
a  large  part  of  the  seed  crop,  but  the  trees  produce  a  great 
surplus,  and  the  wild  creatures  plant  an  abundance  of  good 
seed  which  they  leave  to  germinate.  Thus  it  is  that  the 
destroyer  of  the  seed  disseminates  it,  and  so  perpetuates  the 
tree  which  furnishes  him  sustenance. 

The  Influence  exerted  by  Birds  and  Squirrels  on  the  Succession  of 
Forest  Trees. 

When  we  cut  down  an  oak  or  chestnut  wood  that  is  com- 
posed of  old  and  heavy  timber,  a  pine  wood  is  likely  to 
spring  up  in  its  place,  particularly  if  there  are  pines  near 
by  ;  while  if  we  cut  off  pines,  they  are  usually  succeeded  by 
a  wood  composed  mainly  of  deciduous  trees,  mostly  hard 
woods,  or  the  nut-bearing  or  acorn -bearing  kinds.  Such  a 


UTILITY  OF  BIRDS   IN   WOODLANDS.  97 

succession  of  trees  has  long  been  considered  by  farmers  to 
be  the  rule.  In  other  words,  in  some  way  there  often  comes 
rotation  of  crops  when  wood  lots  are  cut  off.  This  is  be- 
lieved by  some  people  to  be  due  to  the  springing  up  of  seed 
Avhich  has  been  buried  in  the  ground  for  many  years.  When 
an  oak  wood  springs  up  where  a  pine  wood  has  been  cut 
away,  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  has  sprung  from  seed  in  the 
ground;  probably,  however,  it  has  not  come  from  seed  which 
has  been  buried  for  many  years,  but  from  seed  sown  by 
birds  and  squirrels  within  a  few  years,  and  which  has  been 
given  a  new  lease  of  life  by  the  sun's  rays  let  in  by  the 
removal  of  the  dense  foliage  from  above.  All  through  the 
autumn  months,  when  nuts  and  acorns  are  plentiful,  Jays, 
Crows,  and  squirrels  are  gathering  and  storing  away  the  seed 
among  the  pines,  where  they  resort  for  shelter. 

Thousands  of  Crows  will  roost  in  a  pine  wood  for  months 
during  the  winter,  when  the  leaves  are  off  the  deciduous 
trees.  The  pines  then  offer  the  best  hiding  places  for  all 
woodland  creatures.  In  some  of  the  large  Crow  roosts  among 
the  pines  extensive  deposits  of  various  seeds  and  other  mate- 
rial ejected  by  Crows  are  found.  When  a  pine  wood  is  sur- 
rounded by  oak  and  nut  trees,  when  squirrels  and  Jays 
are  plentiful,  and  the  trees  bear  well,  quantities  of  acorns 
and  nuts  will  be  carried  into  the  pine  wood  by  these  crea- 
tures and  buried  beneath  the  dead  "  needles"  or  hidden  away 
in  crevices.  Many  of  these  nuts  and  acorns  are  dug  up 
during  the  winter  months,  especially  by  the  red  squirrel, 
but  many  others  are  never  found. 

Note  an  opening  in  the  pines  made  by  cutting  away  a  few 
trees.  Here  young  oaks  spring  up,  and  we  find  oaks  and 
walnuts  in  such  openings  quite  as  often  as  we  find  pines. 
Examine  the  ground  under  the  pines  in  summer,  and  you 
may  find  many  little  oak,  walnut,  and  maple  trees  coming 
up  from  beneath  the  pine  needles,  and  you  will  also  find 
young  pines  here  and  there.  All  these  young  trees  soon  die 
in  the  dense  shade  of  the  larger  pines.1  But  let  the  pine 

1  If  the  lot  is  not  favorably  situated,  if  the  woods  are  very  dense,  if  birds  and 
squirrels  are  not  plentiful,  and,  above  all,  if  the  crop  of  mast  has  been  light  the 
year  before,  there  may  be  no  young  walnuts  and  oaks  springing  up. 


98  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


wood  be  cut  off,  and  if  the  conditions  are  favorable,  the 
young  hard-wood  trees  spring  up  and  flourish.  But  why  do 
not  pines  spring  up  where  pines  are  cut  off  ?  For  this  there 
are  several  reasons  :  (1)  pines  do  not  sprout  from  the  stump  ; 
(2)  there  is  not  a  crop  of  pine  seed  each  year,  therefore, 
when  the  pine  wood  is  cut  there  may  be  little  good  seed 
in  the  ground  ;  (3)  young  pines  need  some  shade  and  pro- 
tection, and  if  the  larger  trees  are  all  cut  down,  many  of 
the  young  pines  may  die  when  exposed  to  the  sun.  Those 
who,  with  a  knowledge  of  this  fact,  plant  pines  on  unshaded 
ground,  usually  sow  rye  or  some  other  cereal  with  the  pines, 
so  that  the  quick-growing  grain  may  shade  the  young  plants 
for  the  first  year.  The  shaded  trees  grow,  and  in  time  fur- 
nish shade  for  others,  and  so  the  wood  extends. 

Now  let  us  see  why  pines  sometimes  appear  where  hard 
woods  have  been  cut  off.  This  kind  of  succession  is  not 
common.  The  trees  growing  on  most  wood  lots  are  cut  for 
cord  wood  as  soon  as  they  are  of  sufficient  size.  Immedi- 
ately on  the  opening  of  the  season ,  sprouts  shoot  up  rapidly 
from  the  hard- wood  stumps,  choking  many  young  pines. 
Still  some  will  live  and  flourish,  and  so  there  comes  a  mixed 
growth  of  pines  and  hard- wood  trees.  This  is  the  character 
of  much  of  the  wooded  region  near  Boston.  But  if  an  oak 
or  walnut  wood  is  allowed  to  grow  until  the  trees  are  old, 
and  is  cut  when  the  roots  have  lost  their  vigor,  the  sprouts, 
if  they  come  up  at  all,  are  not  so  vigorous,  and  the  young 
pines  have  a  better  opportunity.  Where  birds  and  squirrels 
are  numerous,  a  considerable  part  of  the  fruitage  of  the  pine 
is  removed  by  them,  and  cones  or  detached  seeds  are  buried 
or  scattered  about,  not  only  among  the  pines,  but  among  the 
hard-wood  trees.  The  winds  also  scatter  pine  seed  far  and 
wide  among  deciduous  trees  ;  so,  if  there  are  pines  near  hard- 
wood lots,  young  pines  usually  sprout  among  the  hard- wood 
trees.  When  an  old  growth  of  deciduous  woods  is  cut  off, 
these  young  pines,  having  had  a  start  in  the  shade,  flourish 
and  afford  some  shade  for  still  younger  seedlings,  which 
quickly  germinate  from  the  seed  in  the  ground ;  thus  occa- 
sionally the  pines  succeed  the  broad-leaved  trees. 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IN   WOODLANDS. 


99 


V 


THE   TREE    PRUNERS. 

If  the  young  tree  escapes  or  survives  the  assaults  of  its 
many  enemies,  and  grows  vigorously,  it  is  prone  to  an  over- 
production of  fruit  or  leaves.  Orchardists  and  some  foresters 
practise  pruning,  and  believe  that  when  it  is  judiciously  done 
it  is  good  for  the  tree.  Xature  has  many  ways  of  pruning. 
Superfluous  buds  are  nipped  off  by  birds  and  squirrels,  or 
destroyed  by  insects.  When 
the  sun  lies  warm  in  February 
and  March  on  wooded  hillsides, 
the  Ruffed  Grouse  or  Partridge 
may  be  seen  "budding*'  on  the 
wild  apple  trees,  alders,  pop- 
lars, and  birches.  In  Mav  the 
Rose-breasted  Grosbeak  and  the 
Purple  Finch  attack  both  buds 
and  blossoms,  scattering  snowy 
petals  far  and  wide.  We  have 
seen  that  all  trees  have  numer- 
ous insect  enemies,  which  live 
upon  them  ;  but  most  of  these 
insects,  when  occurring  in  nor- 
mal numbers,  are  either  harm- 
less or  beneficial  rather  than 
injurious.  Their  interests,  like  those  of  the  birds,  are  iden- 
tical with  those  of  the  tree  which  supplies  them  with  suste- 
nance. A  few  leaf-eating  caterpillars  may  be  a  benefit  to 
the  tree,  by  removing  surplus  foliage,  and  thus  checking  a 
too  vigorous  development,  which  otherwise  might  be  injuri- 
ous. Other  insects,  if  not  too  numerous,  may  destroy  the 
surplus  fruit  or  seed,  and  thus  direct  the  energies  of  the  tree 
toward  perfecting  larger  and  better  fruit.  Certain  insects 
cut  off  the  twigs  ;  others  destroy  branches.  The  numbers  of 
these  insects  are  regulated  by  birds.  In  1896  oak  pruners 
(Elapliidion  vittosum)  were  numerous  in  eastern  Massachu- 
setts. They  attacked  several  species  of  oaks,  hickories,  and 
maples.  They  also  assailed  the  apple  trees.  Their  occur- 
rence in  numbers  seems  to  be  periodical,  and  thus  the  trees 


Fig.  32.  — Ruffed  Grouse, 
ding." 


1  bud- 


100  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


are  subject  to  a  more  or  less  regular  periodical  pruning. 
Large  quantities  of  twigs  and  small  branches  fell  from  the 
oaks  and  other  trees  in  1896,  and  it  appeared  as  if  the 
oak  pruners  might  do  considerable  injury  to  these  trees ; 
but  birds  and  other  natural  enemies  attacked  the  insects, 
and  the  trees  were  not  injured, — very  likely  in  most  cases 
they  were  even  benefited  by  this  removal  of  the  twigs  from 
the  upper  branches.  Jays,  Crows,  and  Hawks  break  off 
strong  twigs  and  small  branches  to  use  in  their  nest  build- 
ing. Squirrels  gnaw  off  many  twigs  while  gathering  nuts 
and  acorns,  or  while  building  their  nests.  When  branches 
are  injured  by  insects  or  overshading  to  such  an  extent  that 
they  die,  they  are  removed  later  (when  weakened  by  decay) 
by  the  action  of  the  wind,  or  are  broken  off  in  winter  by 
ice  and  snow.  Thus  the  pruning  of  the  trees  is  effected. 

THE  GUARDIANS  OF  THE  TREES. 

Birds  guard  the  Trees  the  Year  round.  —  We  know  that 
trees  are  subject  to  many  injuries  by  reason  of  the  undue 
multiplication  of  animals  that  feed  upon  them.  The  foliage 
is  devoured  by  insects  and  other  animals ;  the  fruit  and 
seeds  by  insects,  birds,  and  squirrels;  the  twigs  are  killed 
by  borers  or  girdlers  ;  the  bark  is  eaten  by  mice,  hares,  squir- 
rels, or  porcupines  ;  the  trunks  are  attacked  by  wood  borers  ; 
the  roots  have  insect  enemies  ;  even  the  very  life  blood,  the 
sap,  is  sucked  out  by  aphids.  When  we  consider  well  the 
fecundity,  voracity,  and  the  consequent  great  possibilities 
for  mischief  possessed  by  their  enemies,  we  wonder  that 
trees  survive  at  all.  Still,  trees  spring  up  and  grow  apace. 
In  a  wooded  country  a  few  years'  neglect  of  field  and  pasture 
suffices  to  clothe  them  with  a  growth  of  bushes  and  saplings, 
and  in  time  a  wood  lot  succeeds  the  cleared  land.  That 
trees  are  able  thus  to  spring  up  and  grow  to  maturity  with- 
out man's  care  is  sufficient  evidence  that  they  are  protected 
by  their  natural  friends  from  the  too  injurious  inroads  of 
their  natural  enemies.  Among  these  friends  birds  hold  a 
high  place. 

It  is  generally  believed  that  there  are  few  birds  in  deep 
woods.  Travellers  often  have  remarked  the  scarcity  of  birds 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IN   WOODLANDS.  101 

in  the  forest.  It  is  true  that  usually  there  are  fewer  birds, 
both  in  numbers  of  species  and  individuals,  in  most  northern 
forests  than  in  more  open  or  cultivated  lands.  This  is  par- 
ticularly true  of  coniferous  forests,  for  such  woods  harbor 
fewer  insects  than  deciduous  forests,  and  so  furnish  a  more 
meager  food  supply  for  birds.  Those  birds  that  live  and 
breed  in  the  deep  woods,  however,  are  especially  fitted  to 
destroy  the  trees'  enemies. 

This  care  of  the  trees  is  kept  up  throughout  the  year  by 
the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide  of  bird  life.  In  the  chill  days 
of  March  and  early  April,  when  sunshine  and  shadow  fleck 
the  lingering  snow,  in  silent,  leafless  woods  and  along  swol- 
len streams,  the  lusty  Fox  Sparrow  searches  for  seeds  and  for 
dormant  insects,  which  only  await  the  warmer  sun  of  April 
or  May  to  emerge  from  their  hiding  places  and  attack  the 
trees.  This  Sparrow  and  its  companions,  the  Tree  Sparrow 
and  the  Junco,  soon  pass  on  to  the  north,  making  way  for 
the  White-throats  and  Thrushes,  which  continue  the  good 
work,  to  be  followed  in  their  turn  by  other  Thrushes  and  the 
Towhees.  Birds  are  not  plentiful  in  the  woods  in  early 
April,  but  nevertheless  diligent  Titmice, 
Woodpeckers,  Jays,  Nuthatches,  and 
Kinglets  are  there  and  at  work.  In  the 
warm  days  of  Ma}-,  when  nature  has 
awakened  from  her  long  winter's  sleep  ; 
when  the  little,  light-green  oak  leaves  are 
just  opening;  when  the  bright  young  Fig. 33. -The diligent 
birch  leaves  decorate,  but  do  not  hide, 
the  twigs ;  when  every  leaflet  vies  with  the  early  flowers 
in  beauty,  and  every  branch  upholds  its  grateful  offering ; 
when  insects  which  were  dormant  or  sluggish  during  the 
earlier  days  of  the  year  become  active,  and  their  swarming 
offspring  appear  on  bud  and  leaf,  —  then  the  south  wind 
brings  the  migratory  host  of  birds  which  winter  near  the 
equator.  Unnoticed  by  men,  they  sweep  through  the  woods, 
they  encompass  the  trees;  flight  after  flight  passes  along 
on  its  way  to  the  north,  all  resting  daily  in  the  woods  and 
gleaning  insects  ere  they  go.  No  one  who  has  not  watched 
these  beautiful  birds  hour  after  hour  and  day  after  day,  and 


102  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


who  has  not  listened  to  their  multitudinous  notes,  as,  night 
after  night,  they  have  passed  overhead,  can  realize  the  num- 
bers that  sweep  through  the  woods  in  the  spring  and  fall 
migrations.  Those  who  watched  the  great  flights  of  War- 
blers during  the  season  of  1905  could  but  marvel  at  their 
vast  and  changing  procession. 

One  must  be  in  the  woods  most  of  the  time,  during  both 
spring  and  autumn,  to  form  any  adequate  conception  of 
these  movements  ;  and  even  then  he  may  be  mystified  by 
the  sudden  changes  he  will  observe.  While  at  Amesbury, 
Mass.,  on  May  11,  1900,  I  went  out  at  daybreak  with  a  few 
friends  who  were  interested  in  bird  study.  As  we  walked 
through  the  streets  of  the  village  many  male  Blackburnian 
Warblers  Avere  seen  among  the  street  trees.  A  little  later 
we  saw  them  all  about  us  in  the  orchards,  their  brilliant 
orange  breasts  flashing  in  the  sunlight.  As  we  approached 
the  woods  it  was  everywhere  the  same.  The  night  had 
been  very  cold,  and  other  insect-eating  birds  were  seeking 
benumbed  insects  on  or  near  the  ground.  There  were  four 
bright  Redstarts  flitting  about  on  the  upturned  sod  of  a 
newly  plowed  garden.  These  and  other  species  of  Warblers 
were  to  be  seen  in  every  orchard,  wood,  and  thicket.  The 
Blackburnian  Warblers  had  come  in  during  the  night,  and 
were  busy  hunting  for  their  breakfasts  until  7  o'clock,  when 
we  went  to  ours.  At  8  o'clock  not  a  single  Blackburnian 
was  to  be  seen.  I  scoured  the  country  until  nearly  noon, 
finding  alt  the  other  Warblers  as  at  daybreak,  but  not  a 
Blackburnian  could  be  found.  They  had  done  their  share 
in  the  good  work,  and  had  passed  on.  A  later  riser  would 
have  missed  them.  Had  we  not  been  afield  that  morning, 
the  flight  might  have  been  unrecorded. 

In  May  most  of  the  smaller  birds  that  pass  the  summer  in 
our  northern  woods  —  Thrushes,  Warblers,  Vireos,  Cuckoos, 
Towhees  and  their  kin  — arrive,  mate,  and  build  their  nests. 
In  June  the  growing  insect  hosts  increase,  and  the  activities 
of  the  parent  birds  in  procuring  food  for  their  young  are  at 
their  height.  Each  occupied  nest  is  a  sepulchre  for  worms, 
spiders,  and  insects  ;  each  young  bird's  mouth  is  an  open 
door,  yawning  for  their  destruction.  The  parent  birds  are 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IN    WOODLANDS.  103 

ever  hunting,  hunting,  hunting,  to  find  the  wherewithal  to 
stop  those  insistent,  hungry  cries  ;  for  hunger  is  not  good 
for  young  birds,  and  their  cries  may  betray  them  to  their 
enemies.  This  continual  search  for  food  for  the  callow 
young  goes  far  towards  checking  the  uprising  host  of  in- 
sects in  June  and  July,  and  preventing  the  absolute  destruc- 
tion of  the  trees. 

When  the  young  birds  are  out  of  the  nest,  their  parents 
lead  them  to  some  spot  where  insects  are  most  plentiful,  and 
there  continue  to  feed  them  for  a  time.  When  the  fledge- 
lings are  strong  and  well  able  to  fly  about  and  find  their  own 
sustenance,  the  old  birds  usually  drive  them  away  from  the 
vicinity  of  the  home,  and  they  scatter  in  search  of  food, 
drifting  here  and  there,  wherever  food  is  most  plentiful, 
until  they  find  themselves  moving  southward,  with  the 
receding  tide  of  bird  life,  toward  that  land  where  frost 
and  snow  are  never  known. 

Some  of  the  Warblers  are  ready  to  leave  for  the  south  by 
midsummer.  Such  of  the  summer  residents  as  still  remain 
wander  through  the  woods  in  late  summer  and  early  fall,  in 
search  of  insect  outbreaks,  wild  fruit,  and  seeds,  feeding  as 
thev  move  along.  They  are  now  slowly  migrating.  The 
chill  of  autumn  evenings  accelerates  their  southward  move- 
ment, and  on  clear,  still  nights  their  call  notes  and  even 
their  beating  wings  may  be  heard  as  they  fly  southward. 

The  birds  are  now  without  home  attachments,  and  gather 
wherever  food  is  most  plentiful.  Those  that  have  found 
insects  in  plenty  call  to  others  that  are  fly  ing  by  or  overhead, 
bidding  them  also  to  the  feast.  So  the  tide  of  bird  life 
sweeps  back  through  the  woods  of  the  temperate  zone  toward 
the  equator.  In  late  October  bird  songs  are  heard  no  more. 
A  few  Thrushes,  Woodpeckers,  Chickadees,  Kinglets,  Creep- 
ers, and  Nuthatches  flit  here  and  there  ;  Blue  Jays  mourn- 
fully call ;  a  Crow  caws  now  and  then  ;  but  otherwise  the 
woods  seem  deserted.  Still,  at  this  season  of  the  year  and 
all  through  the  winter  and  early  spring  months  the  few  birds 
that  remain  are  accomplishing  the  greatest  good  for  the 
forest ;  for  now  the  development  and  increase  of  all  insects 
are  arrested,  while  their  destruction  by  birds  goes  on.  In 


104 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


winter  the  smaller  wood  birds  that  remain  in  the  north  must 
subsist  largely  on  the  hibernating  eggs  of  insects,  for  many 
insects  pass  the  colder  months  in  the  egg ;  the  bird  that  eats 
these  eggs  can  destroy  at  least  a  hundred  times  as  many 
insects  in  this  minute,  embry- 
onic form  as  it  could  in  the 
summer,  after  the  caterpillars 
had  hatched  and  grown  toward 
maturity.  The  Jays,  Titmice, 
Nuthatches,  and  Woodpeckers, 
which  remain  through  the  win- 
ter in  the  northern  woods,  give 
months  more  of  service  to  our 
trees  than  do  the  majority  of 
birds  that  come  here  as  sum- 
mer residents  or  migrants  only. 
These  all-the-year-round  birds, 
with  the  Creepers  and  Kinglets, 
are  the  most  valuable  guardians 
of  the  wood.  Millions  upon 
millions  of  insects  and  their  eggs  are  destroyed  by  them 
during  the  long  winter  months.  In  this  work  they  are 
assisted  to  some  extent  by  certain  of  the  winter  Finches 
and  Sparrows. 

Birds  guard  All  Parts  of  the  Tree.  — Even  insects  which 
feed  upon  the  roots  are  dug  out  of  the  ground  by  birds,  or 
attacked  by  these  feathered  enemies  whenever  they  appear 
above  the  surface.  Sparrows,  Thrushes,  and  Towhees  search 
among  the  dead  leaves  for  caterpillars  which  drop  from  the 
trees  and  crawl  on  the  ground,  and  for  those  which  pupate 
among  the  litter  of  the  forest  floor.  Woodpeckers,  tapping 
the  trunks,  find  and  bring  forth  injurious  ants,  bark  beetles, 
and  wood-boring  insects.  Creepers,  Kinglets,  Titmice,  and 
Nuthatches  search  the  bark  and  cavities  of  the  trunk  and 
limbs  for  insects'  eggs,  scale  insects,  bark  lice,  borers,  bark 
beetles,  and  other  insects  which  hide  there.  Jays,  Warblers, 
Tanagers,  Wrens,  Titmice,  Vireos,  Cuckoos,  and  other  tree- 
loving  birds  pry  about  among  the  leaves  and  branches  in 
search  of  caterpillars  of  all  sorts.  Even  the  hidden  leaf- 


Figf.  34.  —  Winter  tree  guards,  a 
Creeper  and  a  Nuthatch. 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IN   WOODLANDS.  105 

rollers  are  sought  out.  The  gall  insects  are  dragged  from 
their  hiding  places  by  Jays  and  Grosbeaks.  Titmice  get  the 
bud  worms,  and  Woodpeckers  search  out  the  fruit  worms. 
When  the  spanworms,  disturbed  by  the  movements  of  the 
caterpillar-hunting  Warblers,  Vireos,  and  Sparrows  among 
leaves  and  twigs,  spin  down  on  their  gossamer  threads,  and 
so  escape  one  class  of  enemies,  they  are  marked  by  Fly- 
catchers sitting  on  the  watch  or  hovering  in  the  air  ready 
to  dart  upon  them.  When  the  mature  insects,  gaining  wings, 
attempt  to  escape  by  flight,  they  are  snapped  up  by  these 
same  Flycatchers,  that  sit  waiting  on  the  outer  limbs  of  the 
trees ;  or,  escaping  these,  they  are  pursued  by  Swallows 
and  Swifts  in  the  upper  air.  Those  whose  flight  is  noc- 
turnal must  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  Screech  Owl,  Xight- 
hawk,  and  Whip-poor-will.  Each  family  of  birds  seems 
exactly  fitted  for  the  pursuit  and  capture  of  insects  that 
feed  on  a  certain  part  of  the  tree,  while  nearly  all  species 
can  so  adapt  themselves,  at  need,  as  to  feed  readily  on 
insects  not  ordinarily  taken  by  them. 

While  living  in  the  woods,  much  of  the  time  alone,  for 
several  seasons,  I  have  been  greatly  impressed  by  both  the 
vast  yearly  uprising  of  insect  pests  and  the  strong  repressive 
influence  exerted  by  birds  upon  their  increase.  When  the 
buds  open  in  spring,  broods  of  tiny,  hungry  caterpillars 
emerge,  only  to  be  preyed  upon  by  the  constantly  increasing 
flights  of  birds  that  peer,  swing,  flutter,  or  hop  from  twig 
to  twig  through  all  the  woods.  At  this  time  these  caterpil- 
lars are  not  at  all  noticeable,  and  are  very  difficult  to  find ; 
still,  the  great  majority  of  them  are  readily  found  and  eaten 
by  birds,  and  therefore  never  become  apparent  to  ordinary 
observation.  As  summer  conies  and  the  caterpillars  grow 
in  size,  each  brood  is  reduced  in  number,  until,  as  they  ap- 
proach full  size,  a  band  which  erstwhile  numbered  hundreds 
of  little  crawlers  has  shrunk  to  a  score  or  two,  a  "baker's 
dozen,"  or  even  less.  When  the  survivors  pupate  they  are 
still  attacked  by  birds,  and  the  moths  or  butterflies  as  they 
emerge  and  try  their  wings  are  pursued  by  their  swifter 
feathered  enemies. 

In  studying  the  increase  of  the  gipsy  moth  it  was  found 


106  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


that  during  the  first  few  years  after  its  introduction  into  a 
locality  its  inroads  on  the  foliage  were  not  noticeable  ;  nearly 
all  the  insects  resulting  from  each  egg  cluster  fell  victims  to 
their  natural  enemies.  This  is  true  to  a  still  greater  extent 
of  most  of  our  native  insects.  As  the  season  advances  the 
few  large  caterpillars  that  are  left  from  each  brood  injure  the 
leaves  a  little,  so  that  on  close  inspection  in  July  the  foliage 
appears  somewhat  ragged  and  riddled,  but  at  a  distance,  or  to 
the  casual  observer,  the  trees  seem  in  fine  foliage. 

He  who  watches  the  birds  feeding  from  day  to  day  can 
only  wonder  how  they  can  possibly  find  so  many  caterpillars  ; 
for  birds  do  find  them  continually,  by  going  over  the  same 
ground  day  after  day.  When  it  is  difficult  for  us  to  see 
even  a  single  specimen  on  the  leaves,  the  birds  continue  to 
find  them  until  summer  wanes  and  the  leaves  begin  to  fall. 

The  value  of  the  service  performed  in  woodlands  by  birds 
that  eat  caterpillars  is  far  greater  than  it  seems  at  first  sight, 
for  wherever  the  foliage  of  a  tree  is  destroyed  by  insects  the 
fruit  of  that  tree  cannot  mature,  and  the  tree  also  suffers  a 
serious  check  in  growth.  There  is  much  woodland  in  Massa- 
chusetts that  pays  very  little  in  excess  of  the  taxes.  A  leaf- 
less tree  makes  no  wood  growth  ;  therefore,  whenever  trees 
that  are  grown  for  wood  or  lumber  are  stripped  of  their 
leaves  by  caterpillars,  the  size  of  the  annual  wood  ring  is  so 
much  below  the  normal  that  the  owner  realizes  no  profit,  and 
may  even  suffer  a  loss  on  his  wood  lot  that  year. 

But  this  is  the  least  danger  that  is  threatened  by  the  attacks 
of  caterpillars.  Most  people  know  that  the  tree  "breathes 
through  its  leaves,"  and  when  for  a  long  period  these  organs 
are  prevented  from  developing,  it  must  inevitably  die.  Most 
coniferous  trees,  like  the  pine  and  hemlock,  die  when  stripped 
of  their  foliage  for  one  season ;  and  deciduous  or  broad- 
leaved  trees,  such  as  the  oak,  ash,  and  maple,  often  succumb 
if  deprived  of  their  leaves  for  a  considerable  length  of  time 
each  year  for  even  two  or  three  years  in  succession.  Most 
trees  would  soon  be  killed  in  this  way  were  it  not  for  the 
birds,  for  there  is  a  succession  of  many  species  of  caterpillars 
that  feed  upon  the  trees  all  summer,  and,  were  they  not  held 
in  check  by  birds,  they  would  destroy  the  foliage  month 


UTILITY  OF  BIRDS   IN   WOODLANDS.  107 

after  month.  The  consequent  weakened  condition  of  the 
trees  would  invite  the  bark  beetles  and  other  borers  which 
attack  such  trees,  and,  multiplying  exceedingly,  cut  channels 
beneath  the  bark  until  all  the  vital  tissues  are 
destroyed.  I  have  seen  many  trees  defoliated 
by  the  gipsy  moth  that  afterward  succumbed 
to  the  attacks  of  these  insidious  borers,  which 
are  probably  the  ultimate  cause  of  the  death  Fig.  35.  -De- 

j?  j    e  v    j.     i    i.  structive    bark 

of  many  defoliated  trees.  bee  tie  .eaten 

The  destruction  of  these  larvae  in  their  re-  bayr<rbird8<  En~ 
treats  under  the  bark  is  effected  mainly  by 
insect  parasites,  predaceous  insects,  the  various  species  of 
Woodpeckers,  and  possibly  by  Titmice.  The  adult  beetles, 
when  they  emerge  from  their  retreats  in  the  spring,  are  also 
attacked  by  many  birds.  The  Woodpeckers  are  most  valu- 
able, because  they  drag  from  secret  hiding  places  certain 
boring  coleopterous  and  lepidopterous  larvae 
that  might  otherwise  destroy  the  trees.  A 
single  borer  may  be  sufficient  to  kill  a  young 
tree,  but  the  Woodpecker  takes  the  perni- 
cious grub  from  its  burrow,  and  by  eating 
several  at  a  meal  may  save  many  trees  in 

Fig.  36. -wood-     the  course  of  a  year. 

pecker  hunting  When  the  European  leopard  moth  ap- 
peared in  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  caus- 
ing great  havoc  among  the  trees  in  the  parks,  it  was  feared 
that  as  the  insect  spread  it  would  become  a  serious  enemy 
to  the  trees  of  the  entire  country  ;  but  I  was  informed  by 
Dr.  John  B.  Smith,  entomologist  to  the  New  Jersey  Agri- 
cultural College  Experiment  Station,  that  this  moth,  while 
a  pest  in  cities,  was  doing  little  damage  in  the  country, 
where  the  native  birds  seemed  to  keep  it  in  check.  At 
first  it  looked  as  if  the  large  larvae,  because  of  their  habits, 
would  escape  the  birds.  They  are  borers,  beginning  life 
within  the  small  twigs,  and  when  these  get  too  narrow  for 
them  they  eat  their  way  out  and  crawl  down  outside  to  larger 
twigs.  It  is  then  that  they  are  taken  by  many  native  birds, 
though  the  "English"  Sparrows  do  not  appear  to  check  them. 
Dr.  Smith  says  that  the  Woodpeckers  eat  the  female  moths, 


108  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


and  probably  drag  the  young  larva?  out  of  the  smaller 
twigs. 

It  is  extremely  difficult  and  expensive  to  raise  forest  trees 
in  regions  where  there  are  no  arboreal  birds.  The  larvae 
of  several  large  nocturnal  moths  are  among  the  most 
destructive  insects  known.  Mons.  Trouvelot's  statement 
(pp.  30,  31)  regarding  the  quantity  of  food  eaten  by  the 
larva  of  polyphemus  illustrates  the  power  for  harm  that 
these  creatures  possess.  The  larvae  of  Platysamia  cecropia 
and  Actias  lima  are  so  gigantic  and  their  rate  of  increase  is 
so  great  that  they  constitute  one  of  the  gravest  dangers  that 
constantly  menace  our  woodlands,  yet  we  never  hear  of  any 
serious  injury  done  by  them  in  Massachusetts.  Indeed,  such 
species,  although  large  and  conspicuous,  are  not  often  seen 
except  by  entomologists  and  collectors  of  insects,  who  know 
their  haunts  and  habits.  The  main  reason  for  their  compar- 
ative scarcity  is  indicated  by  Trouvelot's  experience  in  rear- 
ing the  larvae  of  Telea polyphemus,  the  "American  silkworm." 
lie  had  a  tract  of  about  five  acres  enclosed,  and  covered  with 
netting  for  the  protection  of  these  caterpillars.  The  vegeta- 
tion on  this  land  as  I  saw  it  years  afterward  was  largely  scrub 
oak  and  whortleberry  or  huckleberry  bushes.  Trouvelot  says 
that  when  he  began  rearing  silkworms  the  bushes  were  of 
about  five  years'  growth,  and  it  seemed  as  if  there  would  be  very 
little  to  do  after  the  place  was  enclosed  and  the  insects  put 
in ;  but  he  found  that  most  of  his  time  was  occupied  in  de- 
fending his  treasures  against  the  birds.  The  smaller  of  these 
would  push  through  the  meshes  or  get  under  the  edges,  while 
the  larger  ones  would  find  some  hole  by  which  they  could 
enter.  He  says  that  he  was  obliged  to  chase  them  "all  the 
day  long,"  as  when  he  was  pursuing  them  on  one  side  they 
would  fly  to  the  other  and  quietly  feed  until  he  reappeared.1 
"  Birds,"  he  says,  "  are  the  greatest  foes  of  silkworms,  espe- 
cially the  Thrushes,  Catbirds,  and  Orioles."  He  believes  it 
probable  that  in  a  state  of  nature  ninety-five  per  cent,  of 
the  silkworms  become  the  prey  of  these  feathered  insect 
hunters.2 

Samuels  tells  us  that  Trouvelot  was  obliged,  in  self-defence, 

1  American  Naturalist,  Vol.  1,  p.  145.  2  Ibid.,  p.  89. 


UTILITY-   OF  BIRDS   IN    WOODLANDS.  109 

to  shoot  the  birds  which  thus  penetrated  into  his  enclosures 
for  the  purpose  of  eating  the  worms.  Although  the  land  on 
all  sides  sustained  a  good  growth  of  huckleberry  bushes, 
he  never  found  the  berries  in  the  stomachs  of  the  birds  he 
killed,  but  always  found  insects.  He  said  that  birds  came  from 
all  quarters  to  destroy  his  silkworms.  To  test  the  destruc- 
tiveness  of  the  birds,  he  placed  two  thousand  larvae  of  poly- 
phemus  on  a  scrub  oak  near  his  door.  In  a  few  days  the 
Robins  and  Catbirds  had  eaten  them  all.  His  experience  of 
several  years  in  rearing  the  silkworm  led  him  to  the  belief 
that,  were  the  birds  to  be  killed  off,  all  vegetation  would  be 
destroyed.  Such  experiences  show  the  difficulty  of  rearing 
caterpillars,  even  under  artificial  protection,  in  a  land  fre- 
quented by  arboreal  birds,  and  explain  the  rarity  of  serious 
injury  by  such  larvae  in  our  woods. 

The  rapidity  with  which  caterpillars  propagate  where 
there  are  no  such  birds,  and  their  destructiveness  under  such 
circumstances,  may  be  shown  by  the  experience  of  many 
settlers  in  their  attempts  to  establish  groves  on  the  open 
prairies.  It  has  been  the  beneficent  policy  of  our  govern- 
ment to  grant  certain  tracts  of  land  (tree  claims)  to  settlers, 
provided  they  would  plant  trees.  This  was  done  with  the 
purpose  of  providing  wind-breaks  on  the  prairies,  which 
would  eventually  furnish  the  people  with  a  supply  of  wood 
and  lumber.  At  first,  however,  this  work  met  with  little 
success,  for  there  were  few  tree-loving  birds  in  the  prairie 
country  except  along  the  timbered  river  bottoms.  The  set- 
tlers introduced  insect  pests  on  imported  trees.  The  ene- 
mies of  tree  insects  being  absent,  because  the  country  was 
destitute  of  well-grown  groves  and  orchards,  the  insects 
multiplied  and  overran  the  seedling  trees  ;  the  larger  moths, 
like  cecropia  and  polyphenms^  were  the  worst  pests  of  all, 
increasing  rapidly,  eating  voraciously,  and  making  it  almost 
impossible  to  raise  trees.  Dr.  Lawrence  Bruner,  in  a  paper 
on  insects  injurious  to  tree  claims,  states  that  the  absence 
alone  of  so  great  a  factor  as  tree-loving  birds  in  keeping 
down  insect  pests  and  ridding  the  country  of  them  soon 
becomes  apparent  in  the  great  increase  and  consequent  dam- 
age done  by  these  pests.  He  asserts,  also,  that  as  an  enemy 


110 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


to  tree  culture  cecropia  has  no  equal  in  some  portions  of  the 
prairie  country,  and  that  its  large  caterpillars  often  defoliate 
entire  groves.  Mr.  W.  C.  Colt,  who  has  had  experience  in 
raising  trees  in  Dakota,  told  me  that  the  caterpillars  of  this 


Fig.  37. —  The  larva  of  the  cecropia  moth,  a  destructive  leaf-eating  insect, 
held  in  check  by  birds. 

and  other  large  species  were  terribly  destructive  there.  As 
groves  and  orchards  became  established,  however,  and  arbo- 
real birds  spread  over  the  country,  these  caterpillars  were 
reduced  to  a  state  of  comparative  harmlessness.  There  is 
good  reason,  therefore,  for  the  belief  that  the  caterpillars  so 
commonly  eaten  by  practically  all  arboreal  birds  would,  to- 
gether with  the  borers,  destroy  all  the  forests  were  the  birds 
to  be  banished  from  their  chosen  haunts.1 

1  The  latter  part  of  this  chapter  consists  of  revised  portions  of  several  papers 
by  the  author,  originally  published  by  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agri- 
culture. 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AND   PLANT  LICE.  Ill 


CHAPTER   III. 

BIRDS  AS  DESTROYERS  OF  HAIRY  CATERPILLARS  AND 
PLANT  LICE. 

Certain  caterpillars  are  provided  with  defences  which  are 
supposed  to  give  them  immunity  from  the  attacks  of  birds. 
It  is  now  believed  quite  generally,  by  both  ornithologists 
and  entomologists,  that  such  protective  devices  are  effective 
against  nearly  all  birds.  I  have  learned,  however,  by  both 
observation  and  dissection,  that  in  many  cases  such  protection 
does  not  protect.  American  writers  seem  to  have  accepted 
the  evidence  of  Europeans  on  this  subject  without  having 
taken  the  trouble  to  investigate  the  matter  fully  by  observa- 
tion at  home.  Among  the  earliest  of  this  European  "evi- 
dence" now  at  hand  is  a  paper  by  a  writer  in  the  Annales  de 
1'Institut  Horticole  de  Fromont,  Vol.  5,  p.  311,  published 
in  Paris  in  1833.  In  discussing  the  opinion  promulgated  by 
the  Natural  History  Society  of  Gorlitz,  that  the  diminution 
of  fruits  is  on  account  of  the  diminution  of  birds,  he  places 
the  caterpillar  of  the  gipsy  moth  at  the  head  of  the  list  of 
injurious  caterpillars,  saying  that  "above  all  it  is  very  essen- 
tial that  it  be  destroyed."  He  says  further,  that,  as  these 
caterpillars  are  armed  with  long  hairs,  the  birds  guard  well 
against  bringing  them  to  their  young ;  and  that  in  twenty 
years  of  observation  he  has  never  seen  a  bird  take  one  to  its 
young.  He  also  states  that  these  insects  when  in  the  chrysa- 
lis are  not  sought  by  birds. 

A  more  recent  source  of  this  widespread  belief  is  indicated 
by  Dr.  Packard,  who,  writing  in  1870,  notices  some  inter- 
esting facts  brought  out  by  Mr.  J.  J.  TVier  of  the  London 
Entomological  Society,  in  the  following  words  :  — 

lie  finds,  by  caging  up  birds  whose  food  is  of  a  mixed  character 
(purely  insect-eating  birds  could  not  be  kept  alive  in  confinement), 
that  all  hairy  caterpillars  were  uniformly  uneaten.  Such  caterpillars 
are  the  "yellow  bears"  (Arctia  and  Sinloxoma}  and  the  salt-marsh 


112  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


caterpillars  (Leucarctia  acrcea),  the  caterpillar  of  the  vaporer  moth 
(OrgyicC)  and  the  spiny  larvae  of  butterflies;  with  these  perhaps  may 
be  classed  the  European  currant  sawfly.  He  was  disposed  to  consider 
the  "flavor  of  all  these  caterpillars  as  nauseous,  and  not  that  the 
mechanical  troublesomeness  of  the  hairs  prevents  their  being  eaten. 
Larvae  which  spin  webs,  and  are  gregarious,  are  eaten  by  birds,  but  not 
with  avidity ;  they  appear  very  much  to  dislike  the  web  sticking  to  their 
beaks,  and  those  completely  concealed  in  the  web  are  left  unmolested. 
When  branches  covered  with  the  web  of  Hyponomenta  evonymella  (a 
little  moth  of  the  Tinea  family)  Avere  introduced  into  the  aviary,  those 
larvaa  only  which  ventured  beyond  the  protection  of  the  web  were  eaten." 
"  Smooth-skinned,  gaily  colored  caterpillars  (such  as  the  currant  Abraxas 
or  spanworm),  which  never  conceal  themselves,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
appear  to  court  observation,"  were  not  touched  by  the  birds.  He  states, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  "all  caterpillars  whose  habits  are  nocturnal, 
and  are  dull  colored,  with  fleshy  bodies  and  smooth  skins,  are  eaten  with 
the  greatest  avidity.  Every  species  of  green  caterpillar  is  also  much 
relished.  All  Geometry,  Avhose  larvas  resemble  twigs,  as  they  stand 
out  from  the  plant  on  their  anal  prolegs,  are  invariably  eaten." a 

Such  statements  as  these  are  at  least  interesting,  but  they 
must  be  classed  as  negative  evidence,  and  cannot  justify  the 
assertions  so  often  made  that  birds  do  not  eat  hairy  cater- 
pillars, when  there  is  convincing,  positive  evidence  that  cer- 
tain species  do  eat  them.  This  statement  that  birds  do  not 
eat  such  caterpillars,  which  has  been  so  long  reiterated, 
parrot-like,  by  one  writer  after  another,  is  entirely  at  variance 
with  my  experience,  and  my  opportunities  for  investigating 
this  subject  probably  have  been  better  than  those  of  most 
observers.  The  great  burden  of  proof  is  upon  those  who 
make  the  allegation,  for  it  is  always  hard  to  prove  such 
sweeping  generalizations,  and  often  not  at  all  difficult  to  dis- 
prove them.  A  naturalist  may  with  propriety  say  what  he 
has  seen  a  bird  do,  but  he  should  be  cautious  in  stating  what 
it  does  not  do.  The  reiterated  assertion  that  hairy  cater- 
pillars are  immune  from  the  attacks  of  birds  has  been  modi- 
fied of  late  by  some  writers,  and  is  now  oftener  given,  in 
effect,  that  few  birds  eat  them  ;  but  this  statement  needs  still 
further  modification.  We  cannot  rely  on  results  secured  by 

1  First  Report  on  Injurious  and  Beneficial  Insects  of  Massachusetts,  by  A.  S. 
Packard.  Annual  Report  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture, 
1870-71,  pp.  358,  359. 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AXD   PLANT  LICE.  113 

feeding  a  few  European  birds  in  captivity,  or  upon  the  mere 
casual  observations  of  any  one,  to  establish  facts. 

Xo  one,  however,  is  warranted  in  attempting  to  dispute 
assertions  made  by  eminent  naturalists,  unless  he  is  prepared 
to  show  that  his  own  experience  has  been  extended  and  varied 
enough  to  warrant  him  in  assuming  them  to  be  in  error.  To 
justify  my  own  position,  I  shall  present  here  some  revised 
portions  of  some  papers  previously  published,  and  some  field 
notes  from  a  few  observers,  that  the  reader  may  judge  of 
the  character  of  the  evidence  offered  to  disprove  the  state- 
ment that  birds  do  not  eat  hairy  caterpillars.  It  will  first 
be  necessary,  however,  to  explain  how  the  evidence  was 
secured.  For  more  than  thirty  years  I  have  observed,  from 
time  to  time,  the  feeding  of  birds  upon  caterpillars,  and 
during  nine  years  of  this  time  I  had  an  opportunity  to  com- 
pare notes  on  this  subject  with  many  other  field  workers. 
During  the  prosecution  of  the  work  against  the  gipsy  moth 
by  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  more  than  a  thousand 
men  were  employed,  among  whom  were  many  who  knew 
the  more  common  birds.  Some  were  keen  field  naturalists. 
In  the  early  history  of  the  work,  when  it  was  seen  that 
birds  were  feeding  on  the  hairy  caterpillars,  all  those  em- 
ployees who  knew  birds  were  requested  to  watch  both  birds 
and  insects,  and  report  results.  There  were  eleven  such  ob- 
servers on  the  force  at  that  time.  Others  joined  the  force 
from  time  to  time,  until  the  number  of  competent  persons 
whose  experiences  were  recorded  was  increased  to  thirty- 
eight.  Some  of  these  observers  were  employed  only  one 
season  ;  others  were  in  the  employ  of  the  Board  for  six, 
seven,  or  eight  years,  and  made  observations  during  each 
year.  The  conditions  under  which  these  studies  were  made 
were  such  that  most  of  the  birds  could  be  observed  within 
either  a  few  feet  or  a  few  yards.  Those  which  could  not 
be  so  readily  approached  were  watched  with  the  aid  of  good 
field  glasses  or  opera  glasses,  and,  where  there  appeared  to 
be  doubt,  birds  were  shot,  and  the  contents  of  their  stomachs 
were  carefully  examined.  Much  that  was  learned  by  ex- 
perience in  the  earlier  studies  was  turned  to  good  account 
in  conducting  those  made  later.  The  value  of  such  observa- 


114  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


tions  may  be  questioned  by  those  who  rely  solely  upon  the 
examination  of  stomach  contents  to  determine  the  food  of 
birds  ;  but  for  the  purpose  for  which  these  investigations  are 
made  they  are,  if  skilfully  conducted,  quite  as  serviceable 
as  stomach  examinations.  In  fact,  one  must  supplement  the 
other.  Were  one  to  follow  the  birds  about  through  the 
fields  and  woods,  no  doubt  some  interesting  facts  might  be 
learned  in  regard  to  their  food ;  but  it  is  not  in  this  way 
that  a  series  of  accurate  observations  can  be  made.  For 
our  purpose,  the  method  pursued  was  to  find  an  outbreak 
of  hairy  caterpillars  situated  in  a  locality  where  many  spe- 
cies of  birds  would  be  likely  to  find  it.  The  watcher  first 
made  sure  as  to  the  kind  of  insects  to  be  found  upon  the 
trees  or  plants  to  be  watched ;  he  then  concealed  himself 
near  the  insects  whose  destruction  he  wished  to  observe,  and 
watched  the  birds  which  came  there  to  feed.  When  this 
method  is  followed  methodically  by  trustworthy,  painstaking 
naturalists,  and  when  results  obtained  by  different  observers, 
working  independently,  agree  in  the  main,  there  can  be  no 
reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  value  of  such  observations.  When 
the  caterpillars  are  small,  certain  marked  branches  are  selected 
to  be  watched,  or  certain  nests,  webs,  or  tents  are  studied  at 
close  range.  By  this  method,  as  well  as  by  stomach  exam- 
inations, fifty-one  species  or  subspecies  of  birds  were  found 
to  be  feeding  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  upon  hairy  cater- 
pillars. A  list  of  these  is  given  below.  It  will  be  seen 
that  it  comprises  most  of  the  common  summer  birds  found 
in  Massachusetts  woodlands,  and  some  not  commonly  found 
there. 

Birds  observed  feeding  on  Hairy  Caterpillars. 


Yellow-billed  Cuckoo. 

Black-billed  Cuckoo. 

Hairy  "Woodpecker. 

Downy  Woodpecker. 

Yellow-bellied  Sapsucker. 

Northern  Flicker. 

Kingbird. 

Crested  Flycatcher. 

Phoabe. 

Wood  Pewee. 

Least  Flycatcher. 


Blue  Jay. 

Crow. 

Red-winged  Blackbird. 

Baltimore  Oriole. 

Purple  Grackle  or  Crow  Blackbird. 

Bronzed  Grackle. 

White- throated  Sparrow. 

Chipping  Sparrow. 

Field  Sparrow. 

Song  Sparrow. 

Towhee. 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AND   PLANT  LICE. 


115 


Birds  observed  feeding 
Rose-breasted  Grosbeak. 
Indigo  Bunting. 
English.  Sparrow. 
Scarlet  Tanager. 
Cedar  Waxwing. 
Red-eyed  Vireo. 
Yellow-throated  Yireo. 
Warbling  Yireo. 
White-eyed  Yireo. 
Black  and  White  Warbler. 
Parula  Warbler. 
Golden-winged  Warbler. 
Nashville  Warbler. 
Yellow  Warbler. 
Chestnut-sided  Warbler. 


on  Hairy  Caterpillars  —  Concluded. 
Northern  Yellow-throat. 
Black- throated  Green  Warbler. 
Oven-bird. 
American  Redstart. 
Catbird. 

Brown  Thrasher. 
House  Wren. 
White-breasted  Nuthatch. 
Red-breasted  Nuthatch. 
Chickadee. 
Wood  Thrush. 
Wilson's  Thrush. 
American  Robin. 
Bluebird. 


Birds  feeding 
Yellow -billed  Cuckoo. 
Black-billed  Cuckoo. 
Hairy  Woodpecker. 
Downy  W'oodpecker. 
Yellow-bellied  Sapsucker. 
Kingbird. 

Crested  Flycatcher. 
Phoebe. 
Wood  Pewee. 
Least  Flycatcher. 
Blue  Jay. 
Crow. 

Baltimore  Oriole. 
Chipping  Sparrow. 
Towhee. 


on  the  Pupae  or  Imagoes. 

Rose-breasted  Grosbeak. 

Indigo  Bunting. 

English  Sparrow. 

Scarlet  Tanager. 

Red-eyed  Vireo. 

Yellow-throated  Vireo. 

Black  and  White  Warbler. 

Yellow  Warbler. 

American  Redstart. 

Catbird. 

Brown  Thrasher. 

Chickadee. 

Robin. 

Bluebird. 


It  is  interesting  to  note  that  certain  birds  feed  on  the  eggs 
of  some  of  the  parent  moths,  and  that  many  birds  take  the 
moths  in  flight.  Without  going  further  into  details  here,  I 
shall  endeavor  later,  in  connection  with  the  life  history  of 
our  more  common  and  useful  birds,  to  give  some  information 
regarding  the  kind  of  hairy  caterpillars  each  species  eats, 
and  its  comparative  usefulness  in  this  respect. 

Assuming  that  our  observations  have  proved  that  birds  eat 
hairy  caterpillars,  it  may  be  interesting  to  inquire  why  this 


116  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


fact  has  not  been  previously  noticed.  It  will  be  seen  at 
once,  by  one  who  makes  a  study  of  the  subject,  that  the 
error  which  has  been  so  long  persisted  in  arises,  first,  from  a 
lack  of  careful  observation.  It  is  noteworthy  that  most  of 
the  more  observing  writers  give  the  Cuckoo  as  an  exception 
to  their  established  (?)  rule  that  birds  do  not  eat  hairy  cat- 
erpillars. It  is  not  strange  that  the  Cuckoos  should  have 
been  known  for  years  to  feed  on  such  caterpillars.  The 
Cuckoos  are  sizable  birds ;  they  are  not  very  shy,  and,  as 
they  feed  on  the  larger  caterpillars  when  those  insects  are 
full-grown,  and  as  both  Cuckoos  and  caterpillars  are  common 
in  the  vicinity  of  dwellings,  their  habits  in  this  respect  could 
not  escape  the  most  casual  observer.  But  it  is  much  more 
difficult  to  observe  the  habits  of  shy  birds,  such  as  the  Crows 
and  Jays,  which  feed  on  the  larger  caterpillars  ;  and  to  learn 
the  feeding  habits  of  the  smaller  birds,  which  feed  mainly 
on  the  minute  larvae  soon  after  these  have  hatched  from 
the  egg,  requires  the  most  painstaking  care.  Most  of  the 
caterpillars  that  are  eaten  by  the  smaller  birds  are  taken 
when  the  larvae  are  so  small  and  have  done  so  little  injury 
that  they  have  not  become  apparent  to  common  observa- 
tion. Thus  they  are  destroyed  before  most  people  even 
suspect  their  presence  ;  while,  per  contra,  those  which  escape 
the  smaller  birds  and  grow  to  a  large  size  are  seldom  eaten 
in  this  stage  except  by  a  few  species  of  the  larger  birds, 
which,  like  the  Cuckoo,  Catbird,  Jay,  and  Crow,  bolt  them 
whole.  Thus  another  source  of  the  prevalent  opinion  is  ex- 
plained. A  few  smaller  birds,  such  as  the  Titmice,  Vireos, 
and  Orioles,  tear  caterpillars  open,  and  thus  avoid  swallowing 
the  head,  skin,  and  hair.  Sometimes,  when  the  adult  birds 
put  such  caterpillars  down  the  throats  of  their  well-grown 
young,  the  little  birds  will  reject  them.  A  young  Oriole  put 
its  foot  upon  the  protruding  end  of  a  larva,  and  pulled  the 
wriggling  creature  back  to  daylight.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  when  these  caterpillars  grow  large  many  small  birds 
experience  the  same  difficulty  in  eating  them  whole  that  we 
should  encounter  were  we  attempting  to  swallow  the  bones  of 
a  fish.  So,  when  larvae  have  grown  large,  and  are  covered 
with  stiff  spines  or  hairs,  only  the  larger  birds  or  the  most 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,   AND   PLANT  LICE.  117 

intelligent,  industrious,  and  persevering  of  the  smaller  birds 
will  attack  and  devour  them.  When  caterpillars  are  enclosed 
in  webs  they  are  not  quite  so  much  exposed  to  the  attacks 
of  birds  as  when  they  are  feeding  upon  the  foliage  ;  for  many 
birds  lack  either  the  intelligence,  industry,  or  perseverance 
exhibited  by  those  that  tear  open  the  webs  and  hale  forth  the 
inmates.  Caterpillars  get  comparatively  little  protection, 
however,  by  retreating  into  their  webs,  unless  they  feed  at 
night  and  remain  clustered  in  the  web  during  the  entire  day. 
Even  then  they  must  run  the  gauntlet  of  some  of  the  almost 
crepuscular  Thrushes  and  Flycatchers,  the  Owls  and  Whip- 
poor-wills.  Those  who  tell  us  glibly  that  tent  caterpillars 
are  never  attacked  by  birds  forget  that  these  larvre  are  out 
feeding  upon  the  leaves  during  most  of  the  day,  where  they 
are  just  as  much  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  birds  as  is  any 
other  insect.  It  is  true  that  at  early  morning  and  early 
evening,  a  time  when  most  birds  are  actively  feeding,  these 
caterpillars  are  hidden  away  in  their  tents.  Undoubtedlv 
this  habit  came  through  natural  selection.  Those  that  had 
acquired  the  habit  were  more  likely  to  escape  the  birds  at 
morning  and  evening  than  those  that  were  out  upon  the 
leaves  at  those  times,  and  so,  through  generations,  the  habit 
has  become  fixed.  These  caterpillars  also  may  have  some 
immunity  from  birds  by  remaining  in  their  tents  during 
some  of  the  colder  Aveather  of  early  spring ;  nevertheless, 
the  tents  are  not  an  infallible  protection.  Many  species 
of  birds  besides  the  Cuckoo  tear  open  caterpillars'  "  nests." 
Some  do  this  merely  to  get  at  the  larvre,  others  mainly  to 
procure  web  with  which  to  bind  together  the  other  mate- 
rials of  which  their  own  nests  are  composed.  This  cater- 
pillar web  is  much  used  by  birds  for  this  purpose.  Tent 
caterpillars  really  have  very  little  protection  from  birds 
where  the  conditions  are  as  they  should  be. 

For  five  years  the  birds  have  been  mainly  depended  upon 
to  clear  these  larvse  from  the  trees  about  my  home,  and 
we  have  not  in  any  year  removed  more  than  one  or  two 
tents  from  the  trees.  In  the  spring  of  1905  there  were  two 
which  appeared  to  have  escaped  the  attacks  of  birds,  and  one 
day,  as  we  were  about  leaving  home  for  the  summer,  I  exam- 


118  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


ined  these  tents,  and  concluded  to  remove  them.  At  that 
moment  we  were  called  to  dinner,  and  left  the  trees  for  half 
an  hour;  when  we  returned,  the  largest  tent  had  been  torn 
open,  and  several  dead  caterpillars  were  scattered  about  that 
had  been  dealt  with  in  the  manner  characteristic  of  the  Ori- 
ole or  the  Chickadee.  Several  large  holes  in  the  web  showed 
how  they  had  been  extracted.  Being  obliged  to  leave  at 
once,  I  was  unable  to  watch  the  tree,  to  see  Avhat  bird  was 
doing  the  good  work ;  but  Mr.  C.  Allan  Lyford,  who  was 
with  me,  remained  and  photographed  the  caterpillars'  nest. 
The  accompanying  illustration  made  from  his  photograph 
shows  plainly  an  opening  made  by  the  birds,  as  well  as  sev- 
eral of  the  dead  caterpillars  lying  upon  the  limb  or  hanging 
from  it.  We  did  not  take  oft'  the  tents,  but  left  them  and 
their  occupants  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  birds  ;  and  our 
confidence  in  their  protective  service  was  fully  justified  by 
the  results  observed  later. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  why  have  not  those  who  have  dis- 
sected the  stomachs  of  the  birds  discovered  that  they  were 
eating  hairy  caterpillars?  To  this  it  may  be  answered  that 
up  to  the  present  time  most  of  the  knowledge  that  has  been 
gained  in  regard  to  the  destruction  of  hairy  caterpillars  by 
birds  has  come  from  stomach  examinations,  and  it  is  mainly 
by  stomach  examinations  that  light  has  been  thrown  on 
this  question.  Yet  he  who  examines  the  stomachs  of  small 
birds  labors  under  many  difficulties  in  determining  the  specific 
character  and  quantity  of  this  kind  of  food.  Minute  cater- 
pillars are  speedily  reduced  to  a  pulpy  mass  in  the  bird's 
stomach.  While  the  field  observer  may  readily  identify  the 
small  tent  caterpillars,  for  instance,  on  which  the  birds  are 
feeding,  and  even  count  the  number  eaten,  it  might  be  im- 
possible for  the  man  in  the  laboratory,  working  without  exact 
knowledge  of  the  conditions  under  which  the  bird  was  shot, 
to  do  either.  Most  of  the  larger  caterpillars  eaten  by  some 
of  the  smaller  birds  are  not  swallowed  whole,  but  picked  to 
pieces ;  therefore  the  portion  of  the  caterpillar  swallowed 
would  be  entirely  unrecognizable  when  found  in  the  bird's 
stomach.  Other  caterpillars  are  dissected,  as  it  were,  by  the 
bird,  and  only  the  internal  parts  chosen  as  food  ;  these  can- 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AND   PLANT  LICE.  119 

not  be  identified  in  the  stomach  of  a  bird.  Orioles,  Yireos, 
and  Titmice  are  among  the  birds  that  commonly  dissect 
caterpillars  in  this  way.  This  is  not  a  rare  or  exceptional 
habit,  nor  is  it  difficult  to  observe.  It  seems  to  be  a  device 
adopted  by  certain  of  the  smaller  birds  mainly  when  feeding 
on  caterpillars  too  large  to  be  swallowed  whole  without  caus- 
ing some  inconvenience  ;  therefore,  they  choose  the  parts 
which  can  be  digested  readily,  and  reject  the  others. 

There  are  two  facts  which  have  gone  far  to  justify  the  con- 
clusions of  those  who  believe  that  birds  do  not  eat  hairy  cat- 
erpillars ;  they  are  :  (1)  most  birds  appear  to  prefer  hairless 
caterpillars  with  which  to  feed  their  young ;  (2)  when  small 
hairless  caterpillars  are  abundant,  most  birds  seem  to  prefer 
them  to  large  hairy  caterpillars.  The  first  statement  may 
be  accepted  as  a  rule  ;  nevertheless,  fifteen  species  of  birds 
were  seen  by  my  assistants  in  the  act  of  carrying  away  hairy 
larvae  apparently  to  feed  their  young,  and  some  of  these  were 
actually  seen  to  put  large  hairy  caterpillars  down  the  throats 
of  the  young  birds.  These  fifteen  species  are ;  the  Robin, 
Wood  Thrush,  Catbird,  Chickadee,  Chestnut-sided  War- 
bler, Yellow  Warbler,  Black  and  White  Warbler,  Yellow- 
throated  Yireo,  Red-eyed  Yireo,  Scarlet  Tanager,  Crow, 
Blue  Jay,  Baltimore  Oriole,  Black-billed  Cuckoo,  and  Yel- 
low-billed Cuckoo.  Statement  Xo.  2  is  proved  by  records 
made  by  several  observers,  in  years  when  cankerworms 
were  abundant.  They  found  that  when  birds  had  for  some 
time  been  feeding  on  the  hairy  caterpillars  of  the  gipsy  moth 
they  neglected  these  larvae,  for  a  time,  at  least,  to  feed  on 
the  young  cankerworms.  While  the  above  observations 
show  that  the  hairy  caterpillars  are  not  so  eagerlv  sought 
after  by  most  birds  as  are  many  hairless  kinds,  and  that  the 
hairy  species  enjoy  seasons  of  partial  immunity  from  the  at- 
tacks of  birds,  they  form  no  adequate  excuse  for  the  sweep- 
ing, erroneous  generalizations  regarding  this  subject  that 
have  been  given  a  wide  circulation. 

If  we  turn  to  the  literature  of  economic  entomology,  we 
shall  find  many  records  which  are  corroborative  of  my  state- 
ments. The  occurrence  of  the  great  flight  of  Starlings  and 
other  birds  that  flocked  to  feed  on  the  caterpillars  of  the  nun 


120  USEFUL    BIRDS. 

moth  (as  cited  on  p.  17),  may  be  mentioned  here  in  refu- 
tation of  the  assertions  of  European  writers  to  the  eifect 
that  hairy  caterpillars  are  not  eaten  by  birds.  The  fact  that 
birds  have  been  seen  to  feed  more  commonly  on  such  cater- 
pillars in  Massachusetts  than  elsewhere  suggests  the  proba- 
bility that  this  habit  of  feeding  is  local  and  exceptional. 
But  records  of  the  destruction  of  the  forest  tent  caterpillar 
by  birds  in  New  York  and  New  England,  as  given  by  Miss 
Soulc,  Dr.  Felt,  and  others,  show  that  the  species  that  attack 
hairy  larva?  in  Massachusetts  are  useful  in  this  respect  else- 
where. There  are  many  other  records  in  the  literature  of 
American  economic  entomology  and  ornithology  which  might 
be  offered  to  corroborate  the  specific  instances  hereinafter 
given.  This  habit  of  birds  has  been  observed  more  in  Mas- 
sachusetts than  elsewhere  merely  because  the  conditions  here 
have  been  exceptional,  and  the  birds  have  been  carefully 
watched. 

It  seems  quite  probable,  from  my  experience,  that  those 
extremely  hairy  and  destructive  caterpillars,  the  Arctians, 
commonly  represented  by  the  yellow 
bear  (Diacrisia  virginica)   and   the 
woolly  bear  (Ma  Isabella),  are  not 
chosen  as  food  by  many  birds.     Still, 
Fig.  38.— The  woolly  bear    I  have  never  known  either  of  these 
caterpillar.  species    to    be    very   abundant,   and 

think  it  not  improbable  that  their  comparative  scarcity  may 
be  largely  due  to  their  being  eaten  when  very  small  by  birds. 
The  earlier  Thrushes 
take    some    of  these 
larva?    that    winter 
upon    the    ground. 

Should     these     Cater-        Flg,  39._The  yellow  bear  caterpillar.    This  and 

pillars     ever    become  the  w°o1  |JT  bear  are  destructive  hairy  species,  such 

as  are  eaten  by  Thrushes,  Robins,  and  Bluebirds. 

very  abundant  at  any 

time,  it  seems  probable  that  other  birds  would  attack  them. 
The  tussock  moth  caterpillars  (Hemerocampa  leucostigma) 
and  others,  which  Dr.  Packard  instances  as  probably  immune 
from  the  attacks  of  birds,  are  eaten  by  a  goodly  number ; 
and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  exemption  of  our  trees  in  the 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AND    PLANT  LICE.  121 

country  from  injury  by  these  insects  is  largely  due  to  the 
good  work  of  native  birds,  while  the  greater  destructiveness 
of  this  insect  in  our  cities  is  no  doubt  in  consequence  of  the 
scarcity  of  such  birds  there. 

Regarding  the  immunity  of  brightly  colored  caterpillars 
from  destruction  by  birds,  my  evidence  is  mainly  of  a  nega- 
tive   character,    and 
therefore   of  little 
value.     I  have  never 
known    birds    to   eat 
certain    of  the    most 
gaudily  colored  cater- 
pillars,   while   others 

are  commonly  eaten  F1  4Q._  Caterpillar  of  the  white-marked  tussock 
bv  them.  It  would  moth,  a  destructive  shade-tree  pest,  eaten  by  many 

seem  that  such  larvae 

as  are  made  conspicuous  by  their  coloring  must  have  some 
means  of  protection  against  their  enemies.  In  some  instances 
these  bright  colors  may  serve  to  warn  birds  that  the  creature 
displaying  them  is  distasteful  or  unfit  for  food.  Usually, 
however,  such  caterpillars  are  not  numerous,  and  must,  there- 
fore, be  preyed  upon  by  natural  enemies. 

In  that  most  admirable  local  economic  study  of  bird  life 
by  Dr.  Judd,  "The  Birds  of  a  Maryland  Farm,"  we  find  the 
following  statements  :  "The  pea  plant  louse  is  a  new  species, 
unfamiliar  to  birds,  which,  however,  seldom  eat  plant  lice" 
(p.  28)  ;  "The  fact  that  plant  lice  are  not  selected  by  birds 
has  been  mentioned  in  the  notes  on  the  pea  plant  louse" 
(p.  29).  I  cannot  understand  how  Dr.  Judd  could  have 
been  led  into  making  such  erroneous  statements,  for  the 
facts  are  that,  while  some  species  of  plant  lice  appear  to  be 
ignored  by  birds,  other  species  often  form  for  them  a  staple 
food  supply.  For  example,  I  have  never  seen  any  bird  eat 
the  melon  plant  louse,  but  several  species  eat  the  cabbage 
plant  louse,  and  the  birch  aphis  is  a  favorite  food  for  birds. 
It  is  also  a  well-known  and  undisputed  fact  that  some  birds 
subsist  largely  during  the  winter  on  the  eggs  of  plant  lice. 
Before  Dr.  Judd's  paper  was  given  to  the  public,  several  in- 
vestigators had  published  the  fact  that  certain  birds  eat  cer- 


122 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


tain  plant  lice ;  and  two  years  previously  I  had  published  a 
list  of  thirty-four  species  which  feed  upon  plant  lice.  It  is 
a  widely  known  fact  in  Massachusetts  that  practically  all  of 
the  resident  and  migrant  Warblers  eat  the  birch  plant  louse. 
It  is  only  necessary  for  one  to  find  a  locality  where  these 
insects  are  numerous  if  he  wishes  to  make  sure  of  finding  in 
their  seasons  about  all  the  Warblers  that  breed  in  that  region 
or  migrate  through  it,  and  also  many  other  birds  not  ordi- 
narily found  among  the  birches.  Trees  are  seldom  killed 
by  plant  lice ;  but  they  are  often  seriously  weakened,  their 
fruitage  lessened,  and  their  growth  greatly  retarded  by  the 
attacks  of  these  prolific  creatures.  Undoubtedly  the  plant 
lice  of  the  birch  would  greatly  reduce  the  annual  crop  of 
birch  wood  and  lumber  were  it  not  for  the  manner  in  which 
their  increase  is  checked  by  birds.  A  list  of  thirty-eight 
species  of  birds  that  have  been  found,  either  by  myself  or 
my  assistants,  feeding  on  birch  plant  lice,  is  appended  :  — 


Downy  Woodpecker. 

Northern  Flicker. 

Chimney  Swift. 

Ruby-throated  Hummingbird. 

Wood  Pewee. 

Least  Flycatcher. 

Purple  Finch. 

Rusty  Blackbird. 

Red-winged  Blackbird. 

Baltimore  Oriole. 

American  Goldfinch. 

Slate-colored  Junco. 

Chipping  Sparrow. 

White-throated  Sparrow. 

Field  Sparrow. 

Bobolink. 

Towhee. 

Rose-breasted  Grosbeak. 

Indigo  Bunting. 


Chickadee. 

Scarlet  Tanager. 

Red-eyed  Yireo. 

Yellow-throated  Vireo. 

Black  and  White  Warbler. 

Myrtle  Warbler. 

Parula  Warbler. 

Yellow  Warbler. 

Blaek-throated  Blue  Warbler. 

Magnolia  Warbler. 

Chestnut-sided  Warbler. 

Northern  Yellow-throat. 

Black-throated  Green  Warbler. 

Black-poll  Warbler. 

Oven-bird. 

American  Redstart. 

Catbird. 

White-breasted  Nuthatch. 

American  Robin. 


Some  of  the  evidence  from  wrhich  my  conclusions  were 
drawn  regarding  the  economic  relations  existing  between 
birds  on  the  one  hand  and  plant  lice  and  hairy  caterpillars 
on  the  other,  is  here  presented,  that  the  reader  may  have  an 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AND   PLANT  LICE.  123 

opportunity  to  judge  for  himself  as  to  the  value  of  these 
birds.  If  this  volume  does  no  more  than  to  correct  the 
prevalent  erroneous  impression  regarding  the  relations  be- 
tween birds  and  hairy  caterpillars,  and  call  attention  to 
the  necessity  of  protecting  the  birds  that  eat  such  larva1,  it 
Avill  have  accomplished  something  worth  while.  The  ques- 
tion whether  or  not  birds  will  eat  the  caterpillars  of  Bom- 
bycid  moths  is  of  vast  importance  to  the  Commonwealth, 
the  adjoining  States,  and  the  nation  ;  for,  unless  we  can 
get  help  from  the  natural  enemies  of  the  gipsy  moth  and 
the  brown-tail  moth,  the  fight  against  these  insects  is  likely 
to  cost  the  State  many  millions  of  dollars  in  the  end,  while 
other  States  that  surely  will  be  invaded  must  suffer  also. 
If  it  can  be  shown  that  birds  are  capable  of  doing  effective 
work  against  these  insects,  it  ought  not  to  be  difficult  to 
create  such  a  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  bird  protection  as 
will  result  in  a  considerable  increase  in  the  numbers  of  the 
useful  species  which  obtain  a  part  of  their  sustenance  from 
this  abundant  food  supply. 

In  May,  1898,  injurious  insects  were  unusually  prominent 
in  the  Middlesex  Fells.  The  birches  swarmed  with  aphids  ; 
cankerwortns  appeared  on  the  apple  and  elm  trees ;  the 
growing  webs  of  tent  caterpillars  were  seen  on  most  of  the 
wild  apple  and  wild  cherry  trees  ;  forest  caterpillars  were 
gathering  on  oaks  and  maples  ;  sawflies,  mosquitoes,  ants, 
leaf-rollers,  and  many  other  injurious  species  were  abun- 
dant. The  brown-tail  moth  was  just  getting  a  good  foothold 
in  the  woods,  while  the  ever-present  gipsy  moth  larvte  were 
beginning  to  swarm  up  the  trees  from  the  furry  egg  clus- 
ters hidden  among  the  loose  stones  and  seamed  ledges  of 
the  rocky  hills.  As  usual  at  such  times,  birds  were  present 
in  large  numbers.  Warblers  were  flitting  among  the  birch 
trees,  regaling  themselves  on  countless  thousands  of  plant 
lice,  plucking  young  tent  caterpillars  from  the  opening  buds 
of  wild  apple  trees  or  from  the  fast-forming  webs.  They 
alighted  on  the  tree  trunks  and  climbed  around  them,  as  they 
eagerly  sought  tiny  hairy  larvre  of  the  gipsy  moth,  or  flut- 
tered in  the  sunlight  as  they  chased  winged  gnats  in  air. 

It  seemed  that  there  could  be  no  better  opportunity  to  ob- 


124  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


serve  the  usefulness  of  birds  as  destroyers  of  plant  lice  and 
hairy  caterpillars,  and  we  determined  to  have  both  insects 
and  birds  watched  at  intervals  through  the  spring  and 
summer,  that  others  might  learn  much  that  a  lack  of  time 
rendered  it  impossible  for  us  to  determine  by  personal  ob- 
servation. It  was  evident  that  certain  birds  were  living  very 
largely  at  this  time  on  plant  lice  and  three  or  four  species 
of  hairy  caterpillars,  and  we  wished  to  learn  whether  they 
and  others  would  follow  up  this  practice  through  the  spring, 
and  also  whether  they  were  learning  to  eat  the  larvae  of  the 
brown-tail  moth.  These  larvae  are  provided  not  only  with 
long  hairs  but  with  a  coating  of  short,  loosely  attached  hairs 
on  the  posterior  part  of  the  body,  which  are  easily  detached, 
barbed  like  the  quills  of  a  porcupine,  and  so  tenacious  that 
they  will  work  quickly  into  the  human  skin  and  cause  a  vio- 
lent irritation  and  an  itching  eruption,  which  lasts  for  several 
days.  It  was  to  be  expected  that  these,  more  than  any  other 
hairy  caterpillar,  would  prove  distasteful  to  birds,  but  the  re- 
sult of  the  investigation  that  followed  showed  that  birds  were 
learning  how  to  manage  them.  Messrs.  Charles  E.  Bailey 
and  F.  H.  Mosher,  both  woodsmen  and  thoroughly  compe- 
tent observers,  well  acquainted  with  both  birds  and  insects, 
were  instructed  to  make  frequent  visits  to  places  where  the 
conditions  were  such  that  they  could  readily  observe  the 
feeding  of  birds  on  hairy  caterpillars  and  plant  lice.  They 
were  asked  to  take  notes  and  report  the  results  each  day. 
In  order  to  give  the  reader  a  clear  idea  as  to  the  character  of 
the  evidence  thus  secured,  some  of  their  field  notes  are  tran- 
scribed below.  The  following  notes  are  from  Mr.  Mosher's 
reports  :  — 

MAY  26,  1898.— I  went  to  the  park  near  Hemlock  Pool,  Stoneham. 
An  Oven-bird  stayed  near  me  twenty  minutes ;  took  eight  gipsy  moth 
larvae,  several  larvae  that  I  could  not  determine,  and  many  plant  lice; 
then  hopped  to  the  ground  and  walked  away,  searching  in  the  leaves. 
Three  Chickadees  came  to  the  trees,  and  two  of  them  took  a  gipsy 
larva  each.  They  were  picking  plant  lice  and  scales  from  the  bark,  and 
were  picking  off  the  loose  bark,  but  I  could  not  see  what  they  got  from 
beneath  it.  Two  Black  and  White  Warblers  flitted  from  tree  to  tree, 
picking  something  from  the  bark  and  leaves,  and  were  particularly  busy 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AND   PLANT  LICE.  125 

with  the  small  twigs  of  the  oaks.  On  looking  at  them  after  the  birds 
were  gone  I  found  small  scales  on  the  twigs.  The  birds  also  took  plant 
lice  from  the  under  sides  of  the  birch  leaves,  four  larva?  that  looked  like 
cankerworms,  and  three  gipsy  larvae.  A  Red-eyed  Vireo  came  four  dif- 
ferent times,  taking  each  time  respectively  seven,  three,  twelve,  and 
fifteen  gipsy  larvae.  Besides  these,  he  took  plant  lice  and  other  insects 
from  the  leaves  and  bark.  Yellow-throated  Yireos  were  coming  and 
going  constantly,  and  I  could  not  distinguish  between  them.  They 
were  eating  plant  lice  and  insects  from  the  bark  and  leaves.  I  saw 
them  eat  thirty-two  gipsy  larvae.  I  heard  a  commotion  among  the 
Robins  that  have  a  nest  a  short  distance  away.  On  going  to  the  spot, 
I  found  a  Crow  in  the  act  of  carrying  away  one  of  the  young  birds. 
Probably  he  came  later  and  took  the  remainder  of  the  young,  for  the  nest 
was  empty  when  I  returned.  I  changed  my  position  to  the  edge  of  the 
woods.  A  pair  of  Bobolinks  that  are  living  in  the  fields  nearby  came 
to  the  birches  and  picked  plant  lice  for  over  half  an  hour,  then  a  move- 
ment on  my  part  frightened  them  away.  The  Orioles  were  busy  taking 
the  plant  lice,  and  several  times  the  male  went  to  the  tent  caterpillars' 
nest  and  ate  them.  I  saw  them  eat  over  forty  of  the  gipsy  caterpillars, 
that  I  was  sure  of,  in  the  hour  they  were  in  sight.  There  were  Che- 
winks,  Least  Fly  catchers,  Redstarts,  Scarlet  Tanagers,  Brown  Thrushes, 
Wood  Thrushes,  and  one  Red- winged  Blackbird  that  were  feeding,  but 
I  could  not  see  plainly  what  they  were  feeding  on. 

MAY  28,  1898. — A  Black-billed  Cuckoo  went  to  an  oak  tree  and  ate 
thirty-six  forest  tent  caterpillars  inside  of  five  minutes.  Its  nest  was 
near  by,  with  two  eggs,  and  both  birds  were  carrying  the  withering 
blossoms  of  the  oak  and  poplar  to  line  it.  The  Black  and  White  War- 
blers were  eating  forest  tent  caterpillars,  cankerworms,  and  other  larvse, 
besides  plant  lice.  I  could  not  see  them  for  more  than  a  moment  at 
a  time,  but  when  seen  they  were  continually  eating.  They  were  also 
picking  insects  from  the  crevices  of  the  bark.  The  Rose-breasted  Gros- 
beaks were  eating  plant  lice  and  the  gall  insects  from  the  galls  on  the 
oak  leases.  The  Red-eyed  Yireos  were  eating  plant  lice,  forest  tent 
caterpillars,  cankerworms,  and  other  larvae  that  I  could  not  determine. 
From  one  oak  tree  the  Red-eyed  Yireos  took  ninety-two  forest  tent 
caterpillars  in  an  hour.  The  Purple  Finches  were  eating  plant  lice  in  the 
tops  of  the  birches,  but  were  so  wild  that  their  habits  could  not  be 
observed.  ...  A  Red-winged  Blackbird  perched  for  a  moment  in  the 
birches,  and  ate  the  plant  lice  while  there.  A  pair  of  Catbirds  have  a 
nest  near  the  grove,  and  they  would  both  perch  in  the  branches  and  pick 
the  plant  lice  for  an  hour  at  a  time.  The  Tanagers  confined  themselves 
almost  wholly  to  the  oaks,  taking  larvae  from  the  leaves.  One  took 
seven  forest  tent  caterpillars  from  a  mass  on  a  branch.  The  Redstarts 
were  equally  as  industrious  as  the  Yellow-throats,1  but  they  did  not  con- 

1  See  Mr.  Mosher's  report  regarding  these  Yellow-throats,  on  p.  62. 


126  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


fine  themselves  to  any  one  tree,  and  would  dart  about  in  such  a  manner, 
taking  insects  on  the  wing,  flies,  moths,  winged  plant  lice,  etc.,  that  one 
could  not  keep  count  of  what  they  ate.  A  male  Chewink  came  to  a 
tent  caterpillars'  nest  that  was  on  a  wild  cherry,  and  he  was  eating  the 
caterpillars.  When  I  made  a  movement  to  enable  me  to  see  more 
plainly,  he  flew  away. 

MAY  31,  1898.  — I  went  to  Rural  Avenue,  Medford.  During  the  first 
hour  the  birds  were  very  plentiful,  but  by  9  A.M.  there  were  but  few 
there.  There  was  a  family  of  Crows  in  the  place  all  the  time,  but  they 
were  in  the  tops  of  the  pine  trees,  therefore  I  could  not  see  what  they 
were  feeding  their  young,  but  could  hear  their  feeding  cries  very  fre- 
quently. A  Blue  Jay  was  carrying  food  to  her  young.  I  got  near 
enough  to  see  her  take  two  gipsy  larvae  and  carry  them  away.  A 
Wood  Thrnsh  was  singing  in  the  bushes  near  the  water.  I  got  near 
enough  to  see  him  picking  larvae  from  the  leaves.  He  took  five  gipsy 
larvae  after  I  came  in  sight ;  the  cracking  of  a  twig  caused  him  to  fly 
away.  The  Catbird  was  present,  as  usual,  first  eating  larvae  (both 
gipsy  and  other  species),  then  perching  on  the  top  of  the  highest  bush 
and  singing  with  all  its  might,  now  and  then  throwing  in  a  fairly  good 
imitation  of  the  "caw"  of  the  Crow.  A  new  bird  now  made  his  ap- 
pearance. He  was  of  a  bluish  color,  and  was  seen  picking  plant  lice 
before  I  was  certain  of  his  identity.  He  then  took  a  short  flight  to  the 
oak  sprouts,  revealing  his  yellow  back.  This  Parula  Warbler  ate  three 
small  gipsy  caterpillars  and  four  or  five  green  larvae,  and  then  flew 
out  of  sight.  A  Rose-breasted  Grosbeak  ate  plant  lice,  gipsy  larvae, 
gall  insects,  and  took  some  kermes  from  a  branch,  cracking  them  with 
his  bill  and  dropping  the  shells  to  the  ground.  A  Yellow-billed 
Cuckoo  came,  and  ate  forty-one  gipsy  larvae  in  about  fifteen  minutes ; 
she  then  flew  away.  On  my  way  out  of  the  woods  I  stopped  at  the 
edge  of  the  open  to  observe  what  birds  were  feeding  on  plant  lice  on 
the  birch  trees.  Some  Indigo  Birds  were  busy  eating  them,  and  while 
I  was  looking  I  saw  a  Robin  alight  in  the  birches  and  pick  up  plant  lice. 

JUNE  1,  1898.  — I  went  to  the  park  near  the  Malden-Stoneham  line, 
and  took  up  my  position  in  a  grove  of  small  white  birches  and  some 
wild  cherry  trees  with  tent  caterpillar  nests  on  them.  A  Brown  Thrush 
came  to  the  cherry  trees  and  took  five  tent  caterpillars  from  the  outside 
of  the  nest,  and  ate  them.  Several  Chestnut-sided  Warblers  came  to 
the  birches  and  were  picking  plant  lice  all  the  time  they  were  there, 
also  larvaa  of  different  kinds.  They  were  coming  and  going  all  the 
time  I  was  in  the  place.  A  Chipping  Sparrow  remained  in  the  birches 
for  sixteen  minutes,  and  ate  plant  lice  and  green  larvae  during  that 
time.  A  Flicker  alighted  on  an  oak  tree  and  took  two  forest  tent  cater- 
pillars from  the  trunk.  He  also  took  insects  from  the  crevices  of  the 
bark.  A  Wood  Pewee  alighted  on  a  dead  branch,  and  took  moths,  flies, 
and  plant  lice  on  the  wing.  An  Oriole  came  four  times,  and  each  time 
took  a  tent  caterpillar  from  the  nest  to  his  young.  An  Indigo  Bird  came 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AXD   PLANT  LICE.  127 

twice  and  ate  plant  lice  and  some  small  larvie.  Three  Red-eyed  Vireos 
came  to  the  oak  trees  and  ate  the  lame  from  the  leaves  and  the  plant 
lice  from  the  birch  leaves. 

JUNE  3,  1898. — I  went  to  the  park  near  the  boulevard.  Saw  an 
Oriole  take  four  forest  tent  caterpillars,  one  at  a  time,  and  cam-  them 
away  to  its  young.  A  Yellow  Warbler  was  eating  plant  lice  for  fifteen 
minutes,  although  it  rained  quite  hard.  A  pair  of  Oven-birds  were 
feeding  on  plant  lice  for  a  long  time.  Several  Chestnut-sided  Warblers 
came  to  the  birch  trees  and  ate  plant  lice,  then  went  to  the  oaks  and 
poplars  and  took  larvie  of  different  kinds  and  ate  them.  A  Catbird  was 
picking  larvie  from  the  under  sides  of  the  leaves :  most  of  them  were 
green  larvae.  Two  Chewinks  (Towhees)  were  scratching  in  the  leaves, 
but  I  could  not  see  what  they  got  from  the  ground.  They  took  some 
forest  tent  caterpillars  from  the  trunks  of  the  oaks.  A  Maryland  Yel- 
low-throat came  out  of  the  thick  brush  and  ate  plant  lice  for  about  ten 
minutes.  A  Rose-breasted  Grosbeak  was  busy  in  the  oak  trees.  He 
came  to  the  birches  for  a  moment  and  ate  plant  lice.  A  Red-eyed 
Yireo  ate  two  forest  tent  caterpillars,  taking  them  from  the  under  side 
of  a  limb.  The  Indigo  Bird  could  not  be  easily  observed ;  he  was  evi- 
dently eating  plant  lice.  The  Brown  Thrush  could  not  be  seen  dis- 
tinctly;  he  was  searching  in  the  fallen  leaves.  A  Black-billed  Cuckoo 
had  a  nest  near,  and  carried  forest  tent  caterpillars  to  its  mate. 

JUXE  6,  1898.  —  The  Red-eyed  Yireos  seem  to  be  feeding  on  more 
gipsy  larvie  than  the  other  birds  that  come  near  enough  to  be  observed. 
They  will  take  a  larva  from  the  under  side  of  a  leaf  or  a  crevice  in 
the  bark,  and,  putting  one  foot  on  the  larva,  will  proceed  to  pull  it  to 
pieces,  eating  the  softer  parts  and  dropping  the  hairy  parts.  An  Oven- 
bird  came  to  the  colony  and  ate  four  of  the  small  larvie,  picking  them 
from  the  under  sides  of  the  leaves.  I  saw  a  Black  and  White  Warbler 
carrying  cankerworms  to  its  young ;  it  would  take  two  and  sometimes 
three  at  a  time.  A  Baltimore  Oriole  was  taking  tent  caterpillars  to  its 
voung,  taking  those  that  were  on  the  outside  of  the  nest.  A  male  Bobo- 
link came  to  the  birch  trees  and  remained  about  twenty  minutes,  picking 
plant  lice.  The  Field  Sparrows  and  Indigo  Birds  were  also  busy  feed- 
ing on  plant  lice.  A  Wood  Thrush  took  the  cankerworms  away  to  its 
young.  A  Chewink  took  two  tent  caterpillars  from  a  bush  and  ate  them. 
A  Scarlet  Tanager  flew  from  the  oaks  into  the  apple  tree  and  ate  canker- 
worms.  The  Chestnut-sided  Warblers  were  the  most  plentiful  of  any 
of  the  birds,  and  were  eating  plant  lice  almost  constantly. 

JUNE  8,  1898. — I  went  to  the  park,  Stoneham,  near  Spot  Pond,  to 
observe  the  feeding  habits  of  birds.  A  pair  of  Brown  Thrushes  were 
feeding  their  young ;  they  averaged  going  to  the  nest  one  every  five 
minutes,  and  carried  several  larvie  each  time.  A  Kingbird  caught  a 
Buprestid  beetle  and  ate  it.  I  had  made  an  attempt  at  catching  it  when 
it  was  on  the  trunk  of  the  apple  tree ;  it  flew,  and  Avas  snapped  up  by 
the  Kingbird.  This  orchard  is  infested  with  cankerworms.  It  is  situ- 


128  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


ated  near  the  woods,  in  fact,  there  are  woods  on  both  sides,  and  no 
houses  near.  The  following  birds  were  seen  in  the  orchard  during  the 
forenoon :  Crow,  Blue  Jay,  Red-winged  Blackbird,  Yellow  Warbler, 
Chestnut-sided  Warbler,  Black  and  AVhite  Warbler,  Maryland  Yellow- 
throat,  Bobolink,  Indigo  Bird,  Hose-breasted  Grosbeak,  Goldfinch, 
Chipping  Sparrow,  Song  Sparrow,  Kingbird,  Brown  Thrush,  Catbird, 
Robin,  Baltimore  Oriole,  Scarlet  Tanager,  and  Black-billed  Cuckoo. 
A  Black-billed  Cuckoo  came  to  the  orchard  and  ate  twenty-seven  canker- 
worms  in  two  minutes  ;  he  remained  over  half  an  hour,  and  part  of  the 
time  was  eating  much  faster  than  when  I  counted.  A  Grosbeak  came 
and  ate  both  cankerworms  and  birch  aphids.  A  pair  of  Song  Sparrows 
were  carrying  cankerworms  to  their  young.  A  male  Oriole  came  a  long 
distance  to  the  orchard,  for  when  he  had  got  some  cankerworms  in  his 
bill  he  would  start  across  the  woods  in  a  straight  line,  flying  out  of  sight ; 
he  would  come  back  in  about  half  an  hour.  The  Red-winged  Black- 
birds came  to  the  orchard  from  a  swamp  nearly  half  a  mile  away,  and 
ate  the  cankerworms  and  carried  them  to  their  young.  A  Catbird 
came  occasionally  and  ate  cankerworms,  then  would  go  and  perch  in 
the  alders  beneath  which  his  mate  was  sitting  on  her  eggs,  and  sing 
with  all  his  might.  I  saw  a  Chimney  Swift  taking  plant  lice  on  the 
wing. 

On  July  9,  1898,  Mr.  Bailey  made  some  interesting  early 
morning  notes  on  birds  feeding  on  the  gipsy  moth.  These 
are  quoted  below  :  — 

I  left  Maiden  for  Medford  at  3.30  A.M.,  and  went  to  Forest  Street, 
Medford.  I  arrived  there  at  4  A.M.,  and  there  were  some  birds  in  the 
place  then.  The  first  bird  that  I  saw  eating  the  gipsy  caterpillars  was 
the  Red-winged  Blackbird.  The  Blackbirds  came  in  almost  at  the  same 
time  that  I  arrived,  and  they  stayed  until  6  o'clock,  then  left  and  did  not 
come  back.  I  could  not  tell  how  many  caterpillars  were  eaten  by  these 
birds,  but  they  took  them  very  often,  both  the  large  and  the  small  ones. 
I  saw  them  take  no  pupse.  All  the  caterpillars  were  taken  from  the  tops 
of  the  trees.  I  did  not  see  the  birds  come  near  the  ground.  There  were 
seven  Baltimore  Orioles,  and  they  were  eating  caterpillars  all  the  time 
from  4.30  until  8 ;  then  they  stopped  eating,  but  did  not  go  outside  the 
woods.  As  nearly  as  I  could  judge,  the  Orioles  did  not  pick  out  small 
caterpillars,  but  took  as  large  ones  as  there  were.  I  did  not  see  them 
take  any  pupre .  The  Black-billed  and  Yellow -billed  Cuckoos  were  there 
all  the  time  that  I  was.  They  did  not  take  the  caterpillars  as  often  as 
did  the  other  birds.  Those  that  they  did  take  were  picked  from  the 
trunk  of  the  tree  or  from  the  ground ;  they  went  very  little  to  the  tops 
of  the  trees.  Pupse  were  eaten  by  these  birds.  I  could  get  within  ten 
feet  of  them  very  often.  The  Blackbirds  and  Orioles  ate  more  cater- 
pillars than  the  other  birds.  There  was  one  Catbird  in  the  woods ;  it 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AND    PLANT  LICE.  129 

carne  about  the  same  time  as  the  Blackbirds,  but  I  saw  it  for  only  a 
short  time;  it  took  caterpillars  and  pupae.  There  were  four  Red-eyed 
Yireos,  but  I  saw  them  take  only  one  caterpillar,  and  they  were  in  the 
place  all  the  time  that  I  was.  There  were  also  six  Downy  Wood- 
peckers, but  I  did  not  see  them  take  any  caterpillars  or  pupae.  A  brood 
of  Chickadees  was  there  all  the  time,  and  they  took  caterpillars  and  pupas 
of  the  gipsy  moth  and  some  kind  of  a  green  caterpillar.  They  took  all 
their  food  from  near  the  ground,  and  would  pick  the  pupae  and  cater- 
pillars open  before  eating  them.  There  was  a  nest  of  the  American 
Redstart,  and  the  tree  had  been  stripped  of  leaves  by  the  caterpillars. 
There  were  four  young  birds  in  the  nest.  I  saw  the  old  birds  take  but 
one  very  small  gipsy  moth  caterpillar  to  the  young,  but  they  would  pick 
the  large  ones  off  the  nest  and  drop  them  to  the  ground  very  often.1 
There  were  no  pupae  near  the  nest  that  I  could  see.  Two  Robins 
came  to  the  colony  very  often  to  get  food  for  their  young.  I  could  not 
tell  how  many  they  took  with  them  each  time,  but  should  judge  from 
the  cluster  of  caterpillars  in  the  bill  that  there  were  as  many  as  six. 
The  Robins  took  all  the  caterpillars  from  near  the  ground  or  from  the 
ground.  I  did  not  look  for  the  Robins'  nest,  but  could  see  the  birds  go 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  yards  to  a  large  maple  tree,  and  I  think 
the  nest  was  in  this  tree.  One  Blue  Jay  came,  but  stayed  only  a  very 
short  time.  It  took  two  caterpillars,  but,  as  they  were  in  the  tops  of 
trees,  I  was  not  sure  that  they  were  gipsy  caterpillars.  A  brood  of 
Crows  (four  young  and  two  old  birds)  came,  and  stayed  till  I  moved, 
and  then  left  and  did  not  come  back.  The}*  came  at  8  o'clock  and 
stayed  until  almost  9.  They  were  all  in  the  trees  directly  over  me  for 
a  long  time ;  at  times  they  were  within  ten  feet  of  me.  They  would 
go  to  a  cluster  of  pupae  and  caterpillars  and  eat  some,  but  drop  more 
than  the  rate.  I  think  they  took  more  pupae  than  caterpillars,  but  took 
a  large  number  of  caterpillars.  The  young  birds  took  many  more  than 
the  old  ones.  The  old  birds  left  the  place  for  a  short  time,  but  came 
back.  I  think  the  six  Crows  took  two  hundred  pupae  while  in  sight. 
Some  of  the  time  they  took  them  as  fast  as  a  hen  would  pick  up  corn. 

After  this  time  most  of  the  smaller  birds  neglected  the 
hairy  caterpillars  to  attack  the  cankerworms,  which  were 
then  becoming  very  prominent.  When  the  cankerworms 
had  disappeared  the  larger  species  continued  to  feed  on  the 
gipsy  moth  so  long  as  it  could  be  obtained. 

These  observations  were  begun  rather  late  in  the  season, 
and  the  records  kept  by  the  observers  were  not  very  full,  on 
account  of  the  pressure  of  other  duties,  which  also  limited 

1  Redstarts  are  among  the  most  useful  birds  that  eat  the  smaller  caterpillars, 
but  at  this  season  the  larvae  were  nearly  all  too  large  for  the  bird  to  manage. 


130 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


the  time  that  could  be  spared  for  this  kind  of  work.  In 
1899,  however,  Mr.  Mosher  was  detailed  for  this  work  early 
in  the  season,  and  instructed  to  spend  such  time  daily  as 
was  necessary  to  observe  the  feeding  of  birds  on  these  in- 
sects. He  was  requested  also  to  make  full  notes  each  day. 
As  many  of  these  field  notes  as  the  available  space  will  per- 
mit are  given  below.  Many  of  the  observations  were  made 
in  the  morning,  but  not  during  the  earlier  morning  hours, 
when  birds  feed  most  actively.  The  weather  being  mild,  on 
the  24th  of  April  a  few  brown-tail  moth  larvae  that  had  win- 
tered on  the  trees  began  to  crawl  out. 

A  PHIL  24. — In  Cambridge,  near  Fresh  Pond,  I 
saw  a  large  flock  of  Red-winged  Blackbirds  foraging 
on  a  newly  plowed  field,  and  from  a  large  pile  of 
dressing  they  were  taking  flies.  From  a  pear  tree 
near  by  three  of  them  took  brown-tail  moth  larvte 
from  the  opening  buds.  They  were  in  the  tree  seven- 
teen minutes,  and  were  eating  all  the  time. 

APRIL  26.  —  In  Revere,  near  the  Maiden  line,  I 
found  a  pear  tree  with  a  brown-tail  moth  web  on  it. 
A  pair  of  Crow  Blackbirds  came,  and  remained  about 
forty-five  minutes  in  that  tree  and  the  one  adjoining. 
They  plumed  their  feathers  for  a  while,  then  began 
looking  over  the  tree  for  food.  They  alighted  sev- 
eral times  on  the  branch  that  was  most  infested,  and 
picked  the  larvae  from  the  buds  and  from  the  crevices 
of  the  bark. 

A  little   later  the  tent   caterpillars  began 
Ft    4i— web  of    na^cnmo»  under   the    influence   of   the   warm 
the  brown-tan    spring  sun,  and  the  birds  could  find  a  few  of 

m  o  t  h    caterpil-      . , 

lar,  reduced.  mem. 


APRIL  27. — In  Stoneham,  off  Forest  Street,  I  observed  the  birds 
feeding  on  tent  caterpillars.  A  Black  and  White  Warbler  came  three 
different  times,  and  took  the  small  caterpillars  from  the  buds.  The 
Chickadees  visited  the  bush,  and  took  a  few  caterpillars.  None  seemed 
to  take  them  from  the  web.  The  May  flies  were  unusually  plentiful, 
and  the  Least  Flycatchers  were  feeding  on  them. 

APRIL  28 On  Mr.  Dutton's  estate,  Maiden,  I  saw  Black  and 

White  Warblers  feeding  freely  on  tent  caterpillars,  and  also  Chickadees 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AND   PLANT  LICE.  131 

feeding  on  them.  A  pair  of  Robins  were  building  near  by.  When 
the  female  was  arranging  the  materials  of  the  nest  the  male  was  search- 
ing for  food.  When  she  started  for  another  load  he  would  fly  after 
her.  He  flew  to  a  small  Avild  cherry  tree  and  picked  a  few  of  the 
young  tent  larva;  from  the  branch  just  above  the  web. 

MAY  1.  —  Near  the  Fells,  Maiden.  The  White-throated  Sparrows 
were  quite  plentiful  all  day.  I  observed  one  come  from  the  thick 
brush  along  the  edge  of  the  swamp,  and  forage  along  in  the  lower 
trees.  It  went  to  a  tent  caterpillars'  web,  and  ate  at  least  eight  of 
them.  Most  of  these  Sparrows  were  foraging  in  the  low  bushes  and 
on  the  ground. 

MAY  2 A  Field  Sparrow  took  a  number  of  tent  caterpillars  from 

a  branch.  The  Field  Sparrows  were  very  plentiful,  but  I  could  not 
often  get  near  enough  to  see  what  they  were  eating.  A  Chewink  took 
some  of  the  tent  caterpillars  from  the  branch  that  I  had  placed  in  the 
thicket  to  see  if  they  would  eat  them. 

MAY  3.  — In  Maiden.  I  saw  a  Robin  go  to  a  tree  with  many  brown- 
tail  larvie  on  it,  and  eat  several  of  them.  The  day  was  very  cold,  and 
the  larva?  were  clustered  together  on  the  branches.  The  bird  picked 
into  the  mass  five  times,  and  must  have  taken  several  each  time. 

MAY  4.  —  In  Stoneham.  Six  Cedar  Waxwings  came  to  an  apple 
tree  on  which  was  a  tent  caterpillars1  web,  and  two  of  them  picked  the 
larva?  from  the  branches  just  above  the  web.  Most  of  the  time  they 
Avere  picking  the  small  cankerworms.  A  Brown  Thrush  came  to  the 
wild  cherry  trees,  and,  after  singing  for  a  short  time,  ate  a  great  many 
tent  caterpillars,  then  flew  to  the  thick  bushes  and  began  searching  in 
the  dead  leaves. 

MAY  5.  —  An  Oriole  came  to  the  small  wild  cherry  tree  and  ate  sev- 
eral tent  caterpillars  from  the  outside  of  the  web,  then  tore  it  open  and 
ate  out  nearly  all  that  were  in  it.  This  was  a  large  web  when  I  first 
saw  it:  now  there  are  but  few  of  the  caterpillars  left,  — the  birds  and 
bugs  have  nearly  cleaned  them  out.  A  Redstart  came  to  another  small 
tree  and  took  out  three  of  the  tent  caterpillars  from  the  twigs. 

MAY  6.  —  A  Rose-breasted  Grosbeak  went  to  an  apple  tree  with  a 
tent  caterpillars"  web  on  it,  and  took  at  least  two  of  the  larva;  and  prob- 
ably took  away  more. 

MAY  9. — I  observed  a  number  of  Golden-winged  Warblers  working 
near  the  cherry  trees.  Finally  one  went  to  the  larger  one,  and  after 
working  in  it  for  a  time  went  to  the  branch  that  had  the  web  on  it  and 
ate  fourteen  of  the  tent  caterpillars.  A  male  Nashville  AVarbler  came 
to  the  tree  and  took  a  few  of  the  tent  caterpillars,  but  he  was  so  shy  I 
could  not  make  out  distinctly  how  many  he  ate. 

MAY  10.  — I  located  a  male  Red-winged  Blackbird  and  two  females 
that  were  building  in  a  small  swamp  hole.  They  were  feeding,  even7 
time  I  went  past,  in  a  small  place  where  there  were  no  bushes.  There 


132  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


were  small  tufts  of  grass  growing  out  of  the  water.  I  took  a  branch 
from  an  apple  tree,  put  twenty-four  tent  caterpillars  on  it,  and  stuck  it 
up  in  the  mud  on  their  feeding  grounds.  I  went  away  and  was  gone 
twenty-five  minutes,  and  when  I  came  back  the  male  was  looking  the 
branch  over.  On  examining  the  branch,  I  found  but  two  caterpillars 
left.  They  had  crawled  to  the  under  side  of  the  branch,  and  were  well 
concealed  by  leaves.  At  the  apple  tree  with  the  brown-tail  larvae  there 
were  three  species  of  birds  seen  to  feed:  Oriole,  Robin,  and  Black  and 
White  Warbler.  The  Oriole  came  three  times  during  the  afternoon, 
and  took  fourteen  the  first  time  in  six  minutes,  twenty-seven  the  second 
time  in  eight  minutes,  and  ten  the  last  time  in  three  minutes.  The 
Robin  came  but  once,  and  took  over  thirty  and  stayed  but  little  over 
four  minutes.  The  Black  and  White  Warbler  took  twelve  while  in 
sight,  but  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  trunk  and  branches  at  least 
half  the  time,  and  stayed  nine  minutes.  The  first  took  most  of  his 
from  the  leaves,  the  second  from  the  upper  sides  of  the  horizontal 
branches,  and  the  last  from  the  bark  crevices  of  the  upright  trunk. 

MAY  11.  —  A  pair  of  Blue  Jays  came  to  the  apple  tree  and  took 
forty-seven  of  the  brown-tail  larvae.  They  were  in  the  tree  eighteen 
minutes.  A  Robin  came  and  picked  off  four  brown-tail  larvae  and  ate 
them,  then  flew  away.  A  Black  and  White  Warbler  ate  fifteen  brown- 
tail  larvae  ;  stayed  about  ten  minutes.  A  pair  of  Chestnut-sided  War- 
blers came  to  the  apple  trees  and  ate  cankerworms  for  about  twenty 
minutes.  They  must  have  eaten  a  great  many,  as  they  were  pecking 
all  the  time,  but  were  behind  the  leaves  a  part  of  the  time,  so  I  could 
not  see  the  number.  A  Parula  Warbler  also  came  to  the  tree  and  ate 
the  cankerworms,  then  went  to  the  wild  cherry  tree  and  ate  five  tent 
caterpillars.  I  counted  seven  Yellow  Warblers  at  one  time  in  two 
apple  trees,  and  they  were  all  eating  cankerworms.  One  of  them  went 
to  the  cherry  tree  and  ate  three  tent  caterpillars  that  were  on  the  out- 
side of  the  web.  Several  Golden-winged  Warblers  came  to  the  orchard 
and  ate  cankerworms,  but  they  were  very  shy.  A  Nashville  Warbler 
ate  eight  of  the  tent  caterpillars,  and  stayed  only  three  minutes.  The 
Yellow-throats  were  in  the  apple  trees  nearly  all  the  forenoon,  and 
were  busy  most  of  the  time  eating  the  small  cankerworms.  I  did  not 
see  them  trouble  the  tent  caterpillars. 

Cankerworms  and  gipsy  moth  caterpillars  were  now  hatch- 
ing in  some  numbers,  and  the  birds  could  take  their  choice. 

MAY  12.  — There  was  a  large  flight  of  Warblers  this  morning.  On 
first  arriving  at  the  orchard  I  found  the  trees  literally  alive  with  them. 
There  were  Golden-winged,  Yellow,  Chestnut-sided,  Parula,  Black  and 
White,  Nashville,  Yellow-throated,  and  others  that  I  was  not  sure  of. 
They  would  stop  but  a  moment  in  any  one  place,  but  were  chasing  each 
other  from  tree  to  tree,  and  were  all  singing  in  chorus.  I  saw  all  of 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AND   PLANT  LICE. 


133 


Fig.    42.  —  Xashville 
Warbler,  natural  size. 


the  above-mentioned  eating  eankerworms,  but  could  not  keep  any  one 
individual  in  sight  more  than  a  few  seconds  at  a  time.  By  7.45  most 
of  them  had  left  the  orchard.  I  saw  a  Least  Flycatcher  alight  on  a 
branch  of  an  apple  tree  near  me,  and  when  it  saw  a  cankerworm  move, 
it  would  fly  and  snap  it  up  from  the  leaf.  I  saw  it  take  nine  in  this  way 
before  it  flew  away.  In  the  swamp 
a  Yellow  Warbler  came  to  the  wil- 
lows, and,  after  foraging  in  the  top 
for  a  time,  alighted  on  one  of  the 
shoots  that  was  infested  with  the 
gipsy  moth,  took  fifteen  of  the  larvte 
in  less  than  five  minutes,  then  flew 
out  of  sight.  A  Nashville  Warbler  also  came  and 
remained  among  the  willows  for  about  half  an 
hour,  and  took  fortv-two  gipsy  moth  larvos  while 
in  sight,  but  must  have  taken  away  many  more, 
for  he  was  not  in  sight  all  the  time.  A  Rose- 
breasted  Grosbeak  came  to  the  apple  tree  and  ate 
fifty-seven  brown-tail  larvae.  He  was  in  the  tree  about  twenty  minutes, 
and  was  singing  and  eating  all  the  time.  He  probably  ate  more  than 
I  was  sure  of. 

MAY  15.  —  An  Oriole  ate  fifteen  of  the  tent  caterpillars  from  the  web 
at  one  sitting,  and  nine  in  about  twenty  minutes  after.  The  Robin  was 
still  hanging  around  the  brown-tail  moth  tree,  but  I  did  not  see  her  eat 
any.  A  Chestnut-sided  Warbler  came  and  stayed  about  twelve  minutes, 
and  I  counted  twenty-eight  brown-tails  that  he  ate. 

MAY  16.  — I  found  that  one  large  tent  that  was  full  of  caterpillars  a 
week  ago  contained  only  three  to-day,  and  a  large  part  of  the  web  had 
been  carried  away  by  the  birds  for  nesting  material.  Just  after  I  had 

opened  the  M*eb  an  Oriole  flew  to 
it  and  took  one  of  the  remaining 
caterpillars.  The  Orioles  are  eat- 
ing immense  numbers  of  canker- 
worms.  The  row  of  apple  trees 
nearest  the  woods  now  show  but 
little  signs  of  the  presence  of 
eankerworms.  A  pair  of  Scarlet 
Tanagers  came  to  the  brown-tail  moth  tree.  The  male  stayed  seven- 
teen minutes  and  the  female  ten  minutes.  The  male  ate  at  least  forty- 
four  larv;e,  and  probably  many  more.  They  took  only  those  that  were 
on  the  leaves,  and  they  examined  all  leaves  that  were  curled  up,  and 
took  from  them  all  the  larvje  they  contained.  A  Wood  Thrush  came 
to  the  tree  just  at  night,  and  perched  and  sang  for  nearly  half  an  hour. 
Occasionally  he  would  move  along  the  branch  and  pick  a  brown-tail 
larva  or  two.  The  Black  and  White  Warblers  came  again,  stopped  a 
moment,  taking  two  and  three  each,  then  flew  away. 


Fig.   43.  —  Caterpillar  of  the  brown-tail 
moth. 


134  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


MAY  17.  — A  male  Yellow  Warbler  came  to  the  brown-tail  moth  tree 
and  began  eating  the  larvae.  He  had  eaten  four  when  a  flock  of  English 
Sparrows  flew  into  the  tree  and  drove  him  out,  one  of  them  chasing  him 
across  the  boulevard.  The  remaining  five  Sparrows  pecked  a  few  times 
at  the  larvae,  then  they  flew  to  the  street  below.  A  Song  Sparrow  came 
to  the  tree  in  the  early  morning  and  perched  a  while  and  sang,  then  he 
went  to  the  ground  and  foraged  for  about  twenty  minutes,  searching  in 
the  grass,  then  among  the  leaves.  I  saw  him  take  two  small  green 
grasshoppers.  He  then  went  to  the  tree  and  picked  five  brown-tail 
larvae  from  the  branch,  then  flew  away.  A  pair  of  Wood  Thrushes 
came  to  the  orchard  and  stayed  thirteen  minutes.  They  were  chasing 
each  other  through  the  trees  most  of  the  time,  but  I  saw  one  of  them 
take  several  cankerworms  from  the  leaves.  Finally  they  were  chased 
out  by  a  Kingbird  that  is  nesting  near  by.  A  Yellow -throated  Vireo 
came  to  one  of  the  apple  trees  that  has  a  tent  caterpillars1  web  on  it, 
took  two  of  the  caterpillars,  and,  after  hammering  them  well  on  the 
branch,  swallowed  them  whole.  He  then  went  to  another  tree  and 
began  eating  cankerworms. 

The  number  of  gipsy  moth  caterpillars  increased  from  this 
time  on,  as  the  eggs  hidden  away  in  cool  and  shady  places 
hatched  out ;  the  number  of  birds  seen  feeding  on  them  also 
increased. 

MAY  18.  —  Maiden.  In  the  deer  park,  just  back  of  Mr.  Button's,  I 
found  the  gipsy  moth  larvae  quite  plentiful.  A  Black  and  White  Warbler 
came  to  the  infested  trees  and  hopped  along  on  the  trunk  of  a  tree  near 
me,  picking  at  the  bark,  and  finally  hopped  to  one  of  the  branches  with 
larvae  on  the  leaves,  took  eight  gipsy  larvae  in  a  very  short  time,  then 
flew  over  the  ledge  out  of  sight.  A  pair  of  Golden-winged  Warblers 
were  busy  for  a  long  time  in  the  thick  bushes.  They  came  to  the  small 
infested  trees  and  picked  the  larvae  from  the  leaves.  Saw  them  take 
twelve  gipsy  larvae,  and  they  must  have  taken  more.  Yellow  Warblers 
were  constantly  passing  through  the  trees.  They  would  alight  for  a 
moment  and  pick  three  or  four  gipsy  larvae,  then  fly  on.  I  should  think 
there  were  as  many  as  twenty-five  that  passed  through.  A  single  Chest- 
nut-sided Warbler  came  to  the  trees  and  stayed  fourteen  minutes,  and 
took  twenty-two  of  the  gipsy  larvae  that  I  saw,  and  many  besides,  I 
presume.  He  also  took  some  kind  of  green  larvae  from  the  leaves.  He 
would  pick  a  few,  and  then  sing.  A  pair  of  Oven-birds  were  apparently 
building  near.  They  were  chasing  each  other  through  the  trees  every 
few  minutes,  and  would  alight  on  the  low  bushes  and  pick  the  larvae 
from  the  leaves.  They  would  stay  but  a  moment  at  a  time.  A  Brown 
Thrasher,  after  scratching  in  the  leaves  in  the  bushes  out  of  sight  for  a 
while,  came  out  into  the  opening,  hopped  along  under  the  small  cherry 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    ASD   PLANT  LICE. 


135 


trees,  and  took  two  of  the  tent  caterpillars  from  a  low  branch.  She 
would  hammer  them  on  the  ground  for  quite  a  time,  then  swallow  them 
whole.  When  she  had  swallowed  the  second  one  she  saw  me,  and  flew 
away. 

MAY  19.  — A  pair  of  Redstarts  were  in  the  orchard  most  of  the  fore- 
noon, and  were  apparently  eating  cankerworms  most  of  the  time.  They 
would  take  those  that  were  spinning  down  by  threads.  In  the  afternoon 
I  saw  one  come  to  the 
apple  tree  and  remain 
for  about  five  min- 
utes, and  take  eleven 
brown-tail  larvae.  A 
pair  of  Tanagers  came 
to  the  apple  tree  and 
remained  four  min- 
utes, and  one  took  nine 
and  the  other  sixteen 
brown-tail  larva?.  A 
Black  and  White  War- 
bler came  to  the  apple 
tree  and  remained 
about  ten  minutes, 
and  took  twenty-eight 
brown-tail  larvae,  that 
I  saw,  from  the  leaves 
and  trunks.  He  prob- 
ably took  many  more.  Fi«-  44.- Warblers  feeding  011  young  caterpillars  of  the 

,    v  ,,  gipsy  moth. 

A    pair    of    Yellow 

Warblers  came  to  the  tree,  and  each  took  a  few,  but  they  were  so 
active  I  could  keep  them  in  sight  but  a  moment  at  a  time. 

MAY  20. — In  the  swamp  off  Broadway,  Everett,  the  Warblers  were 
very  plentiful  in  the  morning,  and  were  present  in  quite  large  numbers 
until  about  10  o'clock.  Most  of  them  were  in  the  tops  of  the  trees,  and 
it  was  a  difficult  thing  to  see  what  they  were  eating.  The  Yellow  War- 
blers,  Yellow-throats,  and  Redstarts  were  feeding  on  the  trunks  of  the 
trees.  There  are  very  few  limbs  on  the  trees  for  a  distance  of  fifteen 
or  twenty  feet  from  the  ground.  The  Warblers  would  cling  to  the 
bark  and  pick  the  gipsy  moth  larva?  from  the  crevices  of  the  bark. 
Their  habits  were  different  from  those  of  a  Creeper.  Instead  of  cling- 
ing to  the  bark  with  the  body  lengthwise  of  the  trunk,  and  supported 
by  the  tail,  their  bodies  were  crosswise  of  the  trunk,  and  they  depended 
wholly  on  their  feet  to  hold  and  balance  them.  They  were  hopping 
round  and  round  the  trunks  so  that  it  was  impossible  to  count  the  number 
of  larva?  eaten  by  any  one  Warbler,  or  to  keep  him  in  sight  any  length 
of  time,  on  account  of  his  swift  movements.  There  were  a  great  many 
Crow  Blackbirds  that  were  nesting  in  the  evergreens  in  Woodlawn  Cem- 


136  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


eterj.  They  were  also  eating  the  gipsy  larvae.  There  was  only  one 
that  I  could  get  near  enough  to  see  what  and  how  many  he  was  eating. 
He,  in  a  little  over  three  minutes,  ate  forty  larvte  that  I  was  sure  of. 
Two  pairs  of  Wilson's  Thrushes  were  near  me  nearly  all  the  forenoon. 
They  did  not  stay  in  the  trees  much  of  the  time.  I  saw  one  alight  on  a 
small  sprout  on  a  willow  and  eat  five  gipsy  moth  larvse,  then  fly  to  the 
ground.  They  were  feeding  almost  wholly  on  the  hummocks  among 
the  bushes  and  grass. 

MAY  22. —  A  pair  of  Chickadees  came  to  the  apple  tree  and  stayed 
seven  minutes.  One  ate  fifteen  and  the  other  twenty-one  brown-tail 
larvae.  They  must  have  eaten  more  than  twice  that  number,  for  they 
were  not  so  we  could  see  them  nearly  all  of  the  time,  but  we  could  see 
that  they  were  busy.  Mr.  Kirkland  observed  one,  and  I  the  other.  A 
Yellow-throated  Vireo  came  to  the  tree  and  ate  three  brown-tail  larvte 
as  he  passed  through. 

MAY  23.  — A  Robin  was  in  the  apple  tree  when  I  got  there,  but  flew 
away.  Soon  she  came  back  and  foraged  on  the  ground  for  a  while, 
then  went  to  the  apple  tree  and  to  a  fork  near  the  top  where  the  brown- 
tail  larvae  were  congregated  in  great  numbers,  picked  into  the  mass 
and  swallowed  them.  I  saw  her  take  eight  mouthfuls.  The  next 
bird  to  come  was  a  Red-eyed  Vireo.  He  confined  himself  to  the 
branches  where  the  larv»3  were  comparatively  scarce,  and  went  about 
picking  them  from  the  leaves.  I  saw  him  take  forty-three  brown-tails 
in  ten  minutes.  He  stayed  longer  than  that,  but  changed  to  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  tree,  so  I  could  not  see  him.  He  was  finally  driven  out 
by  an  English  Sparrow.  A  Yellow  Warbler  passed  through  the  tree 
and  stopped  for  a  moment.  I  saw  him  take  six  brown-tail  larvre.  The 
next  visitor  was  a  Blue  Jay.  He  came  in  a  very  noisy  manner,  and 
perched  on  one  of  the  upper  branches.  He  looked  suspiciously  at  me 
for  a  few  seconds,  then  went  to  feeding  on  the  larvre.  He  hopped 
from  one  branch  to  another,  and  took  them  from  the  forks  where  they 
were  clustered.  I  could  not  count  how  many  he  ate,  but  there  were  at 
least  thirty  brown-tails.  A  female  Chestnut-sided  Warbler  came  into 
the  tree  and  ate  eleven  brown-tails,  Avhen  she  was  followed  by  the 
male.  He  would  eat  one  or  two,  then  chase  his  mate  through  the  apple 
tree  and  the  adjoining  trees.  They  were  in  and  out  of  the  tree,  back 
and  forth,  for  nearly  twenty  minutes.  A  Chipping  Sparrow  came  to 
one  of  the  upper  branches  and  took  a  larva,  flew  to  the  ledge  near  me, 
hammered  it,  and  ate  it,  swallowing  it  whole.  She  then  flew  back,  took 
another,  flew  to  a  lower  branch  with  it,  and  ate  it  in  the  same  way. 
Then  she  flew  away. 

MAY  24.  — A  Black-billed  Cuckoo  came  to  the  apple  tree  that  has  a 
tent  caterpillars'  nest  in  it,  pulled  open  the  web  and  took  two  caterpil- 
lars from  it,  when  he  was  seen  by  a  Kingbird  and  chased  out.  The 
Kingbird  went  to  the  nest  and  pulled  out  a  mouthful  of  web  and  took  it 
away  to  its  nest.  A  male  Oriole  came  soon  afterward,  and  took  three 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AND   PLANT  LICE.  137 

caterpillars  from  the  web  and  ate  them.  There  were  two  Crows  in  the 
brown-tail  moth  tree  when  I  came  in  sight  of  it.  I  saw  one  of  them 
peck  twice  at  the  branch,  and  swallow  something.  In  attempting  to  get 
nearer  to  them  I  made  a  noise,  and  frightened  them  away.  Could  find 
nothing  on  the  branch  they  were  on  except  brown-tail  moths,  which 
they  were  eating.  The  next  visitor  was  an  Oriole,  who  came  to  the 
tree  and  ate  thirty-four  larvse  in  six  minutes,  then  flew  away.  He 
hammered  each  larva  once  or  twice  before  swallowing  it.  The  next 
visitor  was  a  Wilson's  Thrush.  He  first  perched  on  a  small  oak  on  the 
top  of  the  ledge,  then  hopped  to  the  dry  leaves,  and  seemed  to  be 
searching  among  them  for  food  for  about  five  minutes.  Then  he  flew 
to  the  tree  and  took  a  larva  while  in  sight  and  swallowed  it.  He 
probably  took  more  while  in  the  tree.  He  was  in  the  tree  four  minutes. 
He  then  flew  down  and  began  searching  in  the  grass.  A  Red-eyed 
Vireo  perched  in  the  oaks  and  searched  for  about  nine  minutes.  I  saw 
him  take  over  fifty  larvte  of  various  kinds  from  the  leaves,  some  of 
which  were  leaf- rollers.  I  could  see  him  picking  insects  from  the  under 
sides  of  the  leaves.  To  accomplish  this  he  would  grasp  the  petiole  with 
his  feet,  and  hang,  back  down,  and  pick  the  larvse  off.  He  then  went 
to  the  apple  tree  and  took  twenty -nine  larvae  (brown-tail)  before  flying 
across  the  boulevard.  He  was  in  the  apple  tree  about  six  minutes.  He 
beat  nearly  every  one  on  the  branch  before  eating  it. 

From  this  and  later  experiences  it  seems  that  many  birds 
have  learned  to  eat  the  larvae  of  the  brown-tail  moth  even 
when  the  caterpillars  reach  an  age  when  the  detachable  hairs 
are  dangerous.  Probably  by  shaking  off  these  hairs  the  birds 
render  the  larvae  eatable,  and  even  fit  to  feed  to  their  young. 

MAY  25. — A  Golden-winged  Warbler  came  to  the  oak  trees  next 
the  boulevard,  and  sang  for  nearly  five  minutes  in  a  low,  wiry  voice. 
He  then  began  searching  for  food.  Frequently  I  would  see  him  take 
some  small  green  larvae  from  the  leaves,  but  could  not  tell  what  kind 
it  was.  He  then  flew  to  the  apple  tree  and  picked  eleven  brown-tail 
larvae  from  the  leaves  and  swallowed  them,  after  hammering  them  on 
the  limbs.  He  probably  took  more  while  feeding  in  the  tree,  about 
eight  minutes.  He  then  flew  over  the  ledge.  A  pair  of  Orioles  were 
back  and  forth  over  the  ledge,  and  would  occasionally  stop  and  eat  the 
brown-tail  larvae  for  a  moment  or  two,  but  did  not  make  a  long  stay 
while  I  was  there.  They  had  probably  got  their  fill  earlier  in  the  clay. 
An  Indigo  Bird  lit  in  the  top  of  one  of  the  oak  trees  for  a  moment,  then 
flew  to  the  apple  tree  and  ate  six  of  the  brown-tail  larvae,  and  was  then 
chased  out  by  the  P^nglish  Sparrows.  Three  of  the  Sparrows  perched 
in  the  tree  and  picked  off  two  or  three  brown-tail  larvse  apiece,  then 
flew  to  the  boulevard.  A  pair  of  Scarlet  Tanagers  perched  for  about 


138  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


twelve  minutes  in  the  apple  tree,  and  were  busy  all  the  time  eating 
brown-tail  larvae.  I  could  see  but  one  distinctly,  and  he  ate  forty-three 
brown-tails  that  I  saw,  and  probably  a  few  more,  but  not  many. 

MAY  26.  —  I  watched  a  Maryland  Yellow-throat  on  the  low  willow 
sprouts,  and  saw  him  pick  off  fifty-two  gipsy  moth  larvae  before  flying 
away.  I  saw  Warblers  flying  in  and  out  among  the  trees,  taking  one 
here  and  another  there  all  the  time  I  was  there,  but  could  not  watch 
any  one  individual  for  any  length  of  time.  The  Yellow  Warblers  were 
taking  them  from  the  trunks  as  well  as  the  sprouts,  and  also  in  the  tops 
of  the  tall  trees.  A  pair  came  to  a  bunch  of  sprouts  near  me,  and  I 
counted  thirty-five  gipsy  larvae  that  they  took  in  the  two  minutes  they 
were  there.  A  pair  of  English  Sparrows  have  a  nest  in  a  hollow  tree  in 
the  grove,  and  they  are  almost  continually  chasing  the  Warblers  and 
other  birds  that  come  near  them  ;  but  I  did  not  see  them  feed  any  in  the 
grove,  — they  go  out  to  the  streets  and  dooryards.  The  Redstarts  were 
also  eating  large  numbers  of  the  larvae.  One  that  I  got  near  enough 
to  observe  ate  thirty -one  gipsy  larvse  before  he  left  the  clump  of  willows. 
At  the  brown-tail  moth  tree  a  Black-billed  Cuckoo  came,  and,  going 
to  a  branch  where  the  larvse  were  very  numerous,  began  eating  them 
greedity.  He  had  taken  four  mouthfuls  when  a  Robin,  that  has  a  nest 
in  a  pine  tree  near,  chased  him  out.  A  Yellow -throated  Vireo  came  to 
the  tree  and  ate  fourteen  brown-tails  in  less  than  five  minutes.  He 
probably  ate  many  more,  as  he  could  not  be  distinctly  seen  nearly  all 
of  the  time.  A  Red-eyed  Vireo  came  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  tree 
and  ate  several  larvae,  but  his  doings  could  not  be  clearly  seen.  A 
male  Indigo  Bird  perched  on  the  topmost  branch  of  the  apple  tree  and 
sang  for  several  minutes,  then  hopped  down  a  branch  or  two  and 
picked  the  larvse  from  the  branch.  I  saw  him  eat  sixteen  of  them 
(brown-tails)  after  he  had  hammered  them  on  the  branch. 

MAY  27. — A  Yellow-billed  Cuckoo  came  to  a  willow  tree  near  me 
and  ate  forty-seven  forest  tent  caterpillars  in  six  minutes,  then  flew 
to  a  small  maple  tree  and  sat  on  a  branch  for  nearly  ten  minutes  and 
plumed  his  feathers,  then  returned  to  the  willow  and  ate  sixteen  more, 
and  flew  away.  He  would  take  the  caterpillar  and  hammer  it  once 
or  twice,  then  swallow  it.  A  Blue  Jay  came,  and  took  two  of  the 
forest  tent  caterpillars  and  flew  away  with  them.  A  male  Redstart  ate 
three  forest  tent  caterpillars.  He  would  take  one,  fly  to  a  neighboring 
branch,  hammer  it  well,  swallow  it,  then  go  back  for  another.  A  male 
Oriole  came  to  the  tree  three  times  during  the  forenoon,  and  fed  on  the 
forest  tent  caterpillars.  The  first  time  he  came  he  stayed  four  minutes, 
and  took  eighteen  caterpillars  ;  the  second  time  he  stayed  seven  minutes, 
and  took  twenty-six  larvae ;  and  the  last  time  he  stayed  about  ten  min- 
utes, and  ate  fourteen  larvae.  At  the  brown-tail  moth  tree  there  were 
quite  a  number  of  birds  feeding  in  the  surrounding  trees,  but  not  nearly 
all  the  species  visited  the  apple  tree.  A  Red-eyed  Vireo  came  to  the 
tree  and  would  take  the  brown-tail  moth  larvae  and  hammer  them  a 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,   AND   PLANT  LICE.  139 

few  minutes,  then  pull  the  larger  ones  to  pieces,  and  swallow  them ; 
the  smaller  ones  she  would  swallow  whole.  I  saw  her  eat  fifteen  in  the 
eight  minutes  she  was  in  the  tree.  A  Catbird  came  to  the  tree,  picked 
four  brown-tail  larvae  from  the  branch,  and  ate  them,  and  would  prob- 
ably have  eaten  more,  but  a  Robin  chased  her  out  of  the  grove  toward 
the  boulevard.  She  would  give  the  larvae  a  knock  or  two,  then  swal- 
low them. 

MAY  29 A  pair  of  Blue  Jays  were  very  busy  carrying  food  to  their 

young.  They  came  twenty-four  times  to  a  willow  tree,  with  forest  tent 
caterpillars  on  it,  during  the  three  hours  I  was  there,  and  took  at  least 
two  or  three  larvae  each  time.  Once  they  went  to  some  hazel  bushes 
near  by,  where  a  Chestnut-sided  Warbler  was  sitting,  and  would  prob- 
ably have  taken  the  eggs,  if  I  had  not  interfered.  A  White-breasted 
Nuthatch  came  to  a  willow  and  climbed  around  the  trunk  for  a  time, 
when  she  found  two  forest  tent  caterpillars.  She  ate  one  after  hammer- 
ing it  for  a  moment,  but  passed  over  the  other.  I  saw  her  pass  over 
two  others  in  the  same  way,  apparently  preferring  to  pick  the  smaller 
insects  from  the  bark.  These  were  so  small  that  I  could  not  see  what 
they  were.  A  Wood  Thrush  took  two  of  the  forest  tent  caterpillars  and 
ate  them,  and  later  in  the  day  I  saw  a  Wood  Thrush  go  to  the  apple 
tree  and  eat  five  of  the  brown- tail  larvre,  and  then  fly  away.  I  saw  a 
Flicker  alight  on  an  ant  hill  and  make  a  hole  in  the  hill  with  her  bill, 
and  pick  up  the  ants .  She  was  busy  in  this  way  for  nearly  fifteen  min- 
utes, and  must  have  eaten  large  numbers  of  them.  I  found  in  the  thick 
woods  a  few  oak  trees  that  were  badly  infested  with  forest  tent  cater- 
pillars, and  there  were  quite  a  number  of  them  on  the  low  bushes  on 
the  ground.  A  Chewink  came  to  the  brush,  scratched  in  the  leaves  and 
pulled  out  large  grubs,  but  I  could  not  make  sure  what  they  were.  She 
then  hopped  about  and  took  six  of  the  forest  tent  caterpillars,  beat  them 
on  the  ground,  and  ate  them.  An  unwise  move  on  my  part  frightened 
her  awav.  A  Black-billed  Cuckoo  came  and  gorged  himself.  He  ate 
twenty-nine  forest  tent  caterpillars  at  first,  then  rested  between  ten  and 
fifteen  minutes,  then  ate  fourteen  more.  He  would  shake  and  hammer 
one  on  the  branch,  then  swallow  it,  and  pick  up  another.  A  Nashville 
Warbler  came  to  the  apple  tree,  picked  a  brown-tail  larva  from  the 
leaves,  beat  and  shook  it  for  about  thirty  seconds,  and  swallowed  it ; 
then  took  another,  hammered  it  in  the  same  way,  and  swallowed  it. 
He  then  flew  to  the  low  shrubs.  A  Robin  was  passing  to  and  fro,  but 
I  did  not  see  her  eat  any  of  the  brown-tails ;  she  seemed  to  eat  nothing 
but  what  she  took  from  the  ground.  The  angleworms  were  plentiful 
that  day,  and  she  had  no  appetite  for  anything  else. 

MAY  31.  —  An  Indigo  Bird  came  to  the  brown-tail  moth  tree,  took  a 
brown-tail  larva  from  the  leaves,  and  flew  to  a  low  branch,  shook  and 
hammered  the  larva,  and  ate  it.  He  then  went  back,  took  another,  and 
flew  with  it  to  a  neighboring  oak,  ate  the  larva,  and  flew  away.  A 
Warbling  Vireo  sung  and  fed  in  the  oak  trees  for  nearly  thirty  minutes. 


140  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


He  then  went  to  the  apple  tree  and  took  a  brown-tail  moth  larva,  picked 
it  to  pieces,  and  swallowed  it.  He  then  took  another,  and  was  proceed- 
ing in  the  same  way,  when  he  was  driven  out  by  the  English  Sparrow, 
and  flew  up  over  the  ledge  out  of  sight.  A  pair  of  Red-eyed  Vireos  were 
in  the  oaks  near  the  apple  tree  for  a  long  time,  foraging.  They  would 
hold  on  to  the  petiole  of  the  leaf,  hang  with  their  heads  down,  and  take 
insects  from  the  under  sides  of  the  leaves.  One  of  them  went  to  the 
apple  tree,  took  a  brown-tail  larva  from  the  leaves,  beat  it  on  the  branch, 
and  swallowed  it.  His  mate  then  flew  across  the  street,  and  he  followed. 
A  Yellow -throated  Vireo  went  to  a  small  oak  tree  and  took  three  gipsy 
moth  larvae  that  were  resting  on  a  burlap  band.  She  scarcely  stopped 
to  shake  them  at  all,  but  swallowed  them  at  once.  A  pair  of  Chestnut- 
sided  Warblers  were  busy  taking  cankerworms  to  their  young.  They 
averaged  one  each,  every  three  minutes  for  nearly  thirty  minutes.  In 
the  mean  time  they  themselves  ate  quite  a  number.  The  young  could 
not  have  been  more  than  a  day  old.  A  Yellow  Warbler  came  to  an  oak 
tree  on  the  edge  of  the  orchard  and  took  two  forest  tent  caterpillars,  then 
flew  to  the  thick  apple  trees  and  fed  on  cankerworms.  Four  Waxwings 
visited  the  orchard  for  a  few  minutes  and  ate  a  few  cankerworms,  but 
they  seemed  to  be  picking  into  the  blossoms  of  the  young  fruit  more  than 
anything  else.  A  Redstart  took  a  forest  tent  caterpillar  from  a  branch, 
hammered  it,  and  ate  it.  He  then  flew  out  and  caught  a  small  moth, 
then  flew  into  the  thick  woods.  A  female  Black  and  White  Warbler 
took  a  forest  tent  caterpillar  from  the  trunk  of  an  oak,  flew  with  it  to 
the  ground,  hammered  it  until  she  broke  it  in  pieces,  and  then  swal- 
lowed the  pieces. 

JUNE  1.  —  An  English  Sparrow  came  to  the  apple  tree,  took  a  brown- 
tail  moth  larva,  and,  after  hammering  it  for  a  moment,  flew  aAvay  with 
it  to  her  young.  A  Field  Sparrow  came  to  the  open  space  around  the 
apple  tree,  foraged  among  the  bushes  for  a  few  moments, 
then  perched  in  a  small  oak  and  sang.  He  then  flew  to  the 
apple  tree,  took  a  brown-tail  larva,  flew  to  the  ground  with  it, 
and  ate  it.  He  then  flew  to  the  open  fields  across  Highland 
Avenue.  A  pair  of  Orioles  came  to  the  tree,  and  the  male 
ate  sixteen  and  the  female  twenty-five  brown-tails.  They 
were  in  the  tree  seven  minutes.  A  Yellow-billed  Cuckoo  came  to  the 
tree  and  stayed  about  eighteen  minutes,  including  a  rest  he  took.  He 
ate  thirty-four  brown-tails,  then  rested  seven  minutes,  and 
ate  twelve  more.  He  would  give  them  a  couple  of  shakes, 
and  swallow  them.  The  Robin  coming  in  spied  him,  and 
chased  him  out.  A  Rose-breasted  Grosbeak  visited  a  tree 
for  a  moment  and  took  at  least  five  brown-tail  larvas. 
He  probably  took  more,  as  he  was  not  in  sight  all  the  time.  A  pair 
of  Chickadees  also  visited  the  tree ;  they  stayed  about  five  minutes. 
One  ate  nineteen  brown-tail  larvas,  and  the  other  ate  eight  that  I  saw ; 
he  probably  ate  many  more,  as  I  could  not  watch  him  all  the  time, 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AND   PLANT  LICE.  141 

being  occupied  with  the  other  bird.  A  Yellow-throated  Vireo  came 
through  the  place,  visited  the  tree  for  a  moment,  and  took  two  larvae, 
then  passed  on.  A  male  Golden-winged  Warbler  ate  two  forest  tent 
caterpillars,  after  hammering  them  a  long  time  until  he  got  them  in 
pieces.  A  female  Black  and  White  Warbler  took  a  forest  tent  cater- 
pillar from  the  trunk  of  a  tree  near  me,  flew  to  the  ground  and  beat  it 
until  she  got  it  in  pieces,  when  she  took  the  inside  parts  and  flew  away 
to  her  young,  leaving  the  other  parts  on  the  ground ;  she  did  not  come 
back  for  them.  A  Red-eyed  Yireo  took  a  forest  tent  caterpillar  from 
a  branch  and  hammered  it,  then  he  pulled  it  to  pieces  and  ate  it  all. 
The  next  one  he  treated  in  the  same  way,  except  that  he  ate  onlv  the 
inside,  and  dropped  the  skin  and  head  to  the  ground.  A  Chestnut- 
sided  Warbler  came  to  an  oak  tree  infested  with  the  gipsy  larva?  and 
took  six  in  a  few  seconds,  then  flew  to  the  high  trees.  An  Oven-bird 
came  to  the  same  tree  and  took  eight  gipsy  larvae  from  the  leaves, 
then  flew  awav.  A  Yellow  AVarbler  ate  thirtv-three  cankerworms  in 
a  little  over  six  minutes.  A  Song  Sparrow  took  two  of  the  gipsy  larvae 
and  carried  them  away  to  her  young. 

Burlap  bands  were  placed  around  the  trees  as  a  shelter 
or  trap  for  the  gipsy  caterpillars.  Jays  and  Orioles  soon 
learned  where  to  find  them  when  hidden  there.  An  inter- 
esting note  on  another  bird  follows  :  — 

JULY  5.  —  I  saw  a  Red-breasted  Xuthatch  take  gipsy  larvae  from 
under  the  burlaps  and  eat  them.  When  first  seen,  it  was  on  the  trunk 
of  a  pine  tree  just  below  the  burlap.  The  bird  examined  the  burlap 
all  around  the  tree,  then  flew  to  the  next  and  examined  it  in  the  same 
way,  and  found  nothing.  On  the  fourth  tree  examined  it  found  a 
small,  smooth-skinned  larva,  just  under  the  burlap,  and  ate  it ;  then  it 
found  a  medium-sized  gipsy  larva,  and,  beating  it  a  few  times  on  the 
trunk,  swallowed  it.  It  took  another  on  the  same  tree.  On  the  next 
tree  it  took  another,  and,  after  beating  it  more  than  the  first,  started  to 
fly  away  with  it,  when  a  Wood  Pewee  chased  it  away. 

As  the  season  advanced,  the  caterpillars  began  pupating, 
and  birds  that  were  not  particularly  fond  of  hairy  caterpil- 
lars pursued  the  imagoes  as  they  emerged  from  the  pupa. 

JULY  6.  —  Medford.  A  company  of  English  Sparrows  Avere  picking 
the  brown-tail  moths  from  the  elm  trees  and  from  fruit  trees  near  the 
street.  Some  of  these  would  get  away  from  the  Sparrows  and  fly  out 
into  the  street,  and  were  snapped  up  by  a  Least  Flycatcher  that  was  sit- 
ting on  a  dead  limb,  and  also  by  two  Kingbirds  that  were  sitting  on  the 
telephone  wires.  On  Highland  Avenue,  near  the  Hook  farm,  I  saw  a 
Great-crested  Flycatcher  take  two  of  the  brown-tail  moths. 


142  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


All  the  above  notes,  taken,  as  they  were,  in  different  lo- 
calities in  several  different  towns,  seem  to  establish  the  fact 
that  birds  are  not  by  any  means  indifferent  to  hairy  larvae. 
Reference  may  also  be  made  to  a  summary  of  the  observa- 
tions of  a  large  number  of  men,  published  in  1896,  which 
show  the  avidity  with  which  certain  birds  eat  the  larvae  of 
the  gipsy  moth.1 

Mr.  Mosher's  notes,  quoted  above,  fail  to  show  the  attrac- 
tion of  birds  to  caterpillar  outbreaks,  for  at  that  time  there 
were  no  great  irruptions  of  any  such  insects  in  that  region. 
The  greatest  swarms  of  gipsy  moths  and  brown-tail  moths 
had  been  suppressed  by  the  work  of  the  State  Board  of 
Agriculture,  and  neither  the  American  tent  caterpillar  nor 
the  forest  tent  caterpillar  was  in  very  great  numbers.  Going 
back  to  1895,  we  find  Mr.  Bailey  recording  briefly  his  ex- 
perience in  a  visit  to  a  destructive  swarm  of  the  gipsy  moth. 
Mr.  Henry  Shaw  and  others  give  similar  experiences.  Mr. 
Shaw  says :  — 

JUNE  28,  1895.  —  The  newly  found  colony  of  gipsy  moths  in  Dor- 
chester seems  to  be  a  great  attraction  for  birds  of  all  kinds.  In  the 
last  three  days  I  have  seen  the  Black-billed  Cuckoo  in  great  numbers 
eating  larvae,  also  the  Rose-breasted  Grosbeak.  I  have  seen  the  Cat- 
bird, Red-eyed  Vireo,  and  Yellow-throated  Vireo  feeding  on  the  larvae 
of  the  gipsy  moth.  The  Red-eyed  Vireos  seem  to  be  living  on  them. 
They  take  large  ones,  and  swallow  them  whole.  The  Purple  Grackles 
are  around  there  apparently  after  the  larvae. 

Mr.  Bailey  says,  regarding  the  gipsy  moth  :  — 

JULY  27,  1895.  — I  left  here  at  4.15  A.M.,  and  started  for  Woburn, 
to  see  how  many  birds  there  were  in  the  infested  woods.  I  think  there 
were  more  than  I  have  seen  at  any  one  place  this  summer.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  list  of  species  seen :  Chickadee,  Black  and  White  Creeper, 
Yellow-throated  Vireo,  Red-eyed  Vireo,  Catbird,  Crow,  Blue  Jay, 
Phoebe,  Wood  Pewee,  Least  ^Flycatcher,  Kingbird,  Towhee,  Chipping 
Sparrow,  Song  Sparrow,  Scarlet  Tanager,  Swamp  Sparrow,  Chestnut- 
sided  Warbler,  Yellow  Warbler,  Rose-breasted  Grosbeak,  Downy 
Woodpecker,  Redstart,  Baltimore  Oriole,  Black -billed  Cuckoo,  Yellow- 
billed  Cuckoo.  Most  of  the  birds  left  the  woods  by  11  A.M.,  or,  if  they 
did  not,  they  kept  very  quiet  after  that  hour.  I  think  some  of  the  birds 
have  come  a  long  way  to  feed  here,  for  I  saw  some  of  them  go  about 

'  The  Gipsy  Moth,  by  E.  H.  Forbush  and  C.  H.  Fernald,  1896,  pp.  206-243. 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AND   PLANT  LICE.  143 

half  a  mile.  I  think  the  best  bird  to  destroy  the  moths  is  the  Kingbird. 
The  Kingbirds  came  into  the  woods  at  6.15  A.M.  There  were  seven  of 
them,  and  they  did  nothing  but  hunt  the  moth  until  9.30.  I  saw  them 
take  seventy-nine  males  and  twenty -four  females.  They  dropped  six 
of  the  females.  They  would  cut  the  wrings  off  both  males  and  females 
with  the  bill.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  seven  Kingbirds  from  6.15  A.M. 
to  9.30  A.M.  killed  two  hundred  and  fifty  males.  I  could  not  keep  one 
bird  from  the  rest,  so  I  took  the  number  each  time  I  saw  a  bird  catch 
one.  I  did  not  see  the  birds  take  any  males  except  on  the  wing,  and 
most  of  the  females  were  taken  from  branches  of  trees  near  the  ground. 
They  almost  all  stopped  feeding  at  one  time,  left  the  woods,  and  did 
not  come  back  while  I  was  there.  I  saw  the  Chipping  Sparrow  take 
five  females ;  three  were  taken  from  the  ground,  two  from  a  tree. 
They  took  a  number  of  males  on  the  wing.  They  would  peck  both 
males  and  females  before  eating  them.  There  were  six  Least  Fly- 
catchers, and  I  saw  them  take  thirty-one  males  and  nine  females.  Two 
of  the  female  moths  were  caught  by  the  birds  when  the  moths  were 
falling  from  the  tops  of  trees ;  some  other  bird  might  have  dropped 
them.  One  was  taken  from  the  ground  and  six  from  the  trunks  of 
trees  near  the  ground.  They  took  the  wings  off,  just  as  the  Kingbird 
did.  They  took  the  moths  only  when  they  came  near  them.  The 
Wood  Pewee  took  twenty -two  males  and  seven  females,  that  I  saw. 
There  were  three  of  these  birds  in  the  woods.  Eight  of  the  male  moths 
were  taken  off  the  trunks  of  trees,  and  twelve  were  taken  on  the  wing. 
The  Cuckoos  fed  very  little.  I  saw  them  take  eight  larva?  and  three 
pupie.  The  larva;  were  pecked  several  times  before  they  were  eaten. 
I  did  not  see  them  take  any  notice  of  the  moths.  The  Black-billed 
Cuckoo  was  hunting  for  a  small  larva  in  the  tops  of  the  trees  :  I  could 
not  get  one  to  determine  the  species,  but  it  was  not  the  gipsy  larva. 
A  large  number  of  Chickadees  came  into  the  woods  at 
6.30  A.M.,  and  staved  there  until  I  left,  but  were  not 
feeding  all  the  time.  I  saw  them  take  several  male  gipsy 
moths  from  the  bark  of  the  trees,  but  did  not  see  them 
take  any  on  the  wing.  I  saw  one  bird  take  a  female  moth 
and  pick  it  all  up  in  very  small  parts.  Another  bird  took 
a  female,  took  only  the  wings  off,  and  ate  her.  They  were  hunting 
for  some  small  insect  that  is  feeding  on  the  new  leaves,  but  I  could  not 
tell  what  it  Avas.  I  saw  eight  pupa?  taken  by  the  Chickadees,  and  all 
of  them  were  pecked  open  by  the  bird  before  any  part  was  eaten.  The 
Baltimore  Oriole  came,  found  four  small  gipsy  moth  larvae,  and  I  am 
sure  took  one  male  moth  on  the  wing.  The  Redstarts  took  several 
male  moths  on  the  wing.  A  Yellow  Warbler  took  a  male  moth  from 
the  trunk  of  a  tree  and  ate  it.  A  number  of  Towhees  were  hunting  for 
the  moths,  and  took  the  female  as  readily  as  the  male.  I  saw  them 
take  eighteen  in  all ;  then  they  left  the  ground  where  they  had  been 
hunting,  and  Avent  into  the  tops  of  the  trees,  hunting  for  the  moths. 


144  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


In  September,  1895,  a  second  brood  of  the  gipsy  moth 
hatched  in  Woburn.  The  Warblers  were  then  migrating 
southward,  and  had  stopped  there  to  feed  on  the  young  cat- 
erpillars. Mr.  Mosher  refers  to  this  briefly,  as  follows  :  — 

SEPT.  21,  1895.  — I  went  to  the  Woburn  colony  in  the  forenoon,  to 
observe  the  young  larvas.  I  found  that  many  of  them  were  gone,  prob- 
ably having  been  eaten  by  birds.  Since  these  warm  days  the  eggs  are 
hatching  again.  The  birds  were  very  numerous,  especially  the  War- 
blers and  Vireos,  and  the  Chickadees,  Blue  Jays,  and  Hairy  Wood- 
peckers were  quite  plentiful. 

In  July,  1899,  a  serious  outbreak  of  gipsy  moths  was  dis- 
covered in  Georgetown  at  some  distance  from  the  region 
then  known  to  be  infested  by  this  insect.  On  visiting  the 
place  I  found  birds  very  plentiful  there,  and  most  species 
appeared  to  be  feeding  on  the  gipsy  moth  in  some  of  its 
forms.  Mr.  Mosher  was  sent  there,  and  spent  several  days 
investigating  the  natural  enemies  of  the  moth.  Some  of 
the  notes  taken  there  by  him  are  given  below  :  — 

JULY  11.  —  A  Chickadee  came,  and  ate  one  larva  and  one  pupa.  He 
held  them  with  his  feet,  pulled  them  to  pieces,  and  ate  the  fragments.  I 
saw  an  Oven-bird  carrying  a  gipsy  moth  larva  to  her  young.  A  young 
Black -billed  Cuckoo  came  to  an  oak  tree,  took  a  larva  from  a  branch, 
flew  to  a  lower  branch,  and  began  working  the  larva  around  in  its  bill. 
It  continued  this  for  several  minutes,  when  it  dropped  the  larva  to  the 
ground,  flew  and  picked  it  up,  and  finally  swallowed  it.  A  Blue  Jay 
remained  in  sight  about  four  minutes,  and  was  seen  to  eat  ten  pupae 
and  three  larvae.  A  pair  of  Rose-breasted  Grosbeaks  could  be  seen 
among  the  pine  trees,  feeding  steadily  when  they  were  in  sight.  They 
were  in  the  colony  at  least  two  hours.  There  were  seven  Blue  Jays 
in  the  colony  at  one  time,  and  all  were  eating  both  larvse  and  pupae 
steadily  when  seen.  A  pair  of  Scarlet  Tanagers  were  in  the  trees  for 
nearly  an  hour,  and  were  eating  caterpillars  pretty  steadily  while  they 
were  in  sight,  which  was  about  half  the  time.  Several  times  a  Black  and 
White  Creeper  came,  and  ate  a  few  pupae  each  time.  A  Downy  Wood- 
pecker was  heard  several  times  on  the  edge  of  the  defoliated  tract ; 
finally  he  came  into  it,  and  was  seen  to  take  a  few  pupae  from  the 
clustered  masses,  pull  them  in  pieces,  and  eat  them.  A  pair  of  Great- 
crested  Flycatchers  were  passing  to  and  fro.  One  of  them  alighted 
on  a  tree  near  me,  and,  after  hopping  about  for  a  little  and  taking  one 
or  two  small  moths  on  the  wing,  it  took  a  pupa  from  among  the  pine 
needles  on  a  small  bough,  and  ate  it.  There  was  a  family  of  Black- 


PLATE  XVII.  —  Pines,  Oaks,  and  Other  Trees,  stripped  by  the  Omniv- 
orous Caterpillars  of  the  Gipsy  Moth.  Georgetown  (where  Mr. 
Mother's  observations  were  made),  July  11,  18!)9.  (From  the  annual 
report  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  181)9.) 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AND   PLANT  LICE.  145 

billed  Cuckoos  that  were  coming  and  going  all  the  time  I  was  there, 
and  they  were  eating  large  quantities  of  larvae.  The  young  would  take 
a  larva  and  work  it  over  with  the  bill  for  a  long  time,  and  then  swallow 
it.  The  old  ones  would  take  a  larva,  beat  it  on  a  limb  a  few  times,  and 
swallow  it.  Most  of  the  birds  were  gone  by  8.30  A.M.  They  were 
most  plentiful  between  5.30  and  7  A.M.  The  Cuckoos  and  Chickadees 
were  coming  and  going  all  day.1  When  we  came  in  sight  of  the  place 
after  dinner  we  saw  nine  Crows  fly  to  the  edge  of  the  stripped  patch, 
and  alight  in  the  trees  that  were  partially  stripped,  but  when  we  tried 
to  get  near  them,  they  flew  away.  When  I  went  into  the  colony  I 
found  there  were  still  two  Crows  there.  I  saw  one  of  them  eat  three 
pupa3,  then  they  took  flight.  Several  species  that  were  not  seen  to  eat 
the  moth  were  heard  in  the  woods  outside  the  stripped  area.  Among 
the  number  were  the  Red-eyed  Yireo,  Indigo  Bird,  Wood  Thrush,  Che- 
wink,  Maryland  Yellow-throat,  Black-throated  Green  Warbler,  Chest- 
nut-sided and  Yellow  Warblers. 

JULY  12. — In  the  morning,  when  I  came  in  sight  of  the  place,  I 
found  the  whole  flock  of  Crows  there,  and  could  hear  them  feeding 
their  young  very  frequently.  When  I  tried  to  get  near  enough  to  see 
what  they  were  doing,  they  all  flew  away.  The  Grosbeaks  were  back 
again  to-day.  They  kept  on  the  farther  side  of  the  tract,  and  were  eat- 
ing both  pupae  and  larvae  when  they  could  be  observed.  The  Black- 
billed  Cuckoos  were  eating  great  numbers  of  the  larvte,  as  was  the  case 
yesterday.  There  were  three  of  them  in  sight  at  one  time,  and  they 
were  coming  and  going  all  day.  The  Blue  Jays  were  around  the  col- 
ony all  the  time,  just  outside  the  stripped  area,  and  when  seen  were 
eating  both  pupse  and  larvse.  They  are  so  shy  that  it  is  very  hard  to 
get  near  them.  There  were  a  great  many  Chickadees 
flying  back  and  forth  through  the  colony.  Each  one 
would  stop  now  and  then,  take  a  larva  from  the  trunk, 
take  it  to  a  branch,  and  with  its  feet  on  the  larva  would 
pull  it  to  pieces  and  eat  it.  A  pair  of  Phoebes  came  to 
the  colony  about  8  o'clock  and  remained  nearly  two  hours,  and  caught 
all  the  male  moths  that  came  near  them.  One  of  the  Great-crested 
Flycatchers  was  in  and  out  of  the  colony  at  intervals  all  day,  taking 
food  to  its  voung  in  a  hollow  apple  tree  near  by.  I  saw  the  pair  take 
all  forms  of  the  moth  to-day,  —  caterpillar,  pupa,  and  male  and  female 
moths.  They  would  hop  along  on  a  branch,  and  at  a  distance  might 
be  taken  for  Robins.  I  saw  them  take  five  pupae,  two  larvae,  and  two 
female  moths,  besides  a  great  many  male  moths,  and  carry  them  to 
their  young.  A  Kingbird  also  came,  remained  nearly  half  an  hour,  and 
took  many  male  moths. 

JULY  13.  —  The  Crows  were  in  the  colony  when  I  arrived,  and  all 

1  Most  birds  leave  the  defoliated  woods  during  the  hotter  part  of  the  day,  re- 
tiring to  the  cool  shade,  and  feeding  in  the  stripped  woods  mostly  at  morning 
and  night. 


146  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


flew  out  and  went  to  the  meadow  land  near  by,  and  were  searching  for 
grasshoppers  most  of  the  day.  I  could  hear  them  feeding  their  young 
there  very  often.  Whenever  I  left  the  place  for  a  few  minutes  to  go  to 
the  spring  they  would  fly  back  again.  I  counted  nine  Blue  Jays  in  the 
colony  at  one  time,  and  they  were  all  busy  eating  the  larva?  and  pupse. 
I  could  see  only  one  distinctly,  and  he  ate  five  pupa?  and  two  larvse  in 
two  and  one-half  minutes.  A  family  of  Oven-birds  were  scratching 
about  on  the  ground  among  the  thick  bushes.  They  were  walking 
about  like  a  flock  of  chickens,  and  took  the  larvse  that  were  crawling 
on  the  ground  or  that  happened  to  fall  from  the  leaves.  A  young 
Cuckoo  was  perched  in  the  oak  sprouts  near  me.  The  old  bird 
brought  him  larvse  at  the  rate  of  one  every  two  minutes  for  about 
thirty-six  minutes ;  he  then  went  into  the  swamp.  A  Red-eyed  Vireo 
came  into  the  colony  and  ate  steadily  for  forty  minutes.  He  ate  sev- 
enty-three larvse  that  I  saw.  He  would  hold  the  larvse  with  his  feet, 
pull  out  the  inside,  eat  it,  and  drop  the  outside.  A  Downy  Woodpecker 
came  into  the  colony,  ate  two  pupae,  and  then  flew  away. 

JULY  14.  —  The  Crows  are  still  in  the  colony,  back  and  forth,  when 
no  one  is  there.     They  fly  out  when  they  see  any  one.     They  seem  to 
be  eating  great  numbers  of  the  pupae.     A  Yellow-billed  Cuckoo  came 
in  the  early  morning  and  fed  forty-eight  minutes,  and  ate  eighty-one 
larvse.     He  would  beat  each  one  once  or  twice  and  swallow  it,  then  rest 
a  short  time  before  taking  another.     Chickadees  are  still  here  in  large 
numbers,  and  are  eating  a  great  many  caterpillars,  as  they 
eat  only  the  inside.     Blue  Jays  are  still  eating  large  quan- 
tities of  larvse  and  pupse,  but  their  actions  cannot  be  seen 
accurately,  as  they  are  so  shy.     Black-billed  Cuckoos  are 
here  to-day,  as  before.     I  saw  four  at  one  time,  and  they 
were  here  at  intervals  all  day,  and  always  eating  the  cater- 
pillars.    There  were  several  Tanagers,  or  the  same  one 
several  times ;   each  one  would  eat  two  or  three  of  the 
larva;  each  time  he  was  in  sight.     He  seemed  to  pick  out  the  small 
ones.     He  would  hammer  them  well  before  he  swallowed  them. 

JULY  15.  —  When  I  arrived  this  morning  there  were  three  Flickers 
in  the  path  where  the  larvas  were  crossing  to  get  green  food.  These 
birds  were  picking  the  larvse  up  as  they  crossed,  and  eating  them. 
They  would  hammer  them  on  the  ground.  Yesterday  there  was  a 
Hairy  Woodpecker  around  the  colony,  but  I  could  not  see  what  he  was 
doing.  To-day  he  came  and  picked  into  the  mass  of  pupse,  pulled  them 
in  pieces,  and  ate  them.  The  Downy  Woodpecker  was  also  here  again 
to-day.  I  saw  him  eat  three  pupse.  He  was  around  nearly  all  day. 
The  Crows  are  getting  tamer,  and  came  several  times  during  the  day, 
and  I  saw  them  take  both  larvse  and  pupse  and  feed  their  young  with 
them.  The  Chickadees  are  here  in  greater  numbers  than  any  day  be- 
fore ;  there  were  evidently  two  families  of  them.  All  were  feeding  on 
the  larvse,  in  the  same  manner  as  mentioned  before.  A  Chewink  perched 


BIRDS,    CATERPILLARS,    AND   PLANT  LICE.  147 

in  a  tree  near  the  edge  of  the  colony,  sang  for  a  few  minutes,  then  flew 
to  the  sprouts  that  are  infested,  then  to  the  ground.  He  scratched  in 
the  leaves,  and  I  saw  him  take  seven  pupee  from  the  leaves,  and  two 
larvae  that  were  crawling  on  the  ground.  There  was  a  pair  of  Great- 
crested  Flycatchers  coming  and  going  all  day.  They  took  a  great  many 
male  moths,  and  I  saw  them  take  five  female  moths  from  the  tree 
trunks.  A  Robin  perched  in  the  tops  of  the  oak  trees,  picked  off  four- 
teen of  the  pupae  from  the  branches,  and  ate  them.  A  Yellow-bellied 
Sapsucker  came,  and  I  saw  it  eat  two  pupae.  It  remained  at  least 
half  an  hour  more,  but  I  could  not  see  what  it  was  doing.  A  Yellow- 
billed  Cuckoo  ate  ten  larvae  in  a  few  minutes. 

Thousands  of  these  insects  are  undoubtedly  eaten  by  birds, 
for  every  one  that  they  are  seen  to  eat ;  but,  it  may  be  asked, 
if  the  birds  are  effective  enemies  of  these  introduced  gipsy 
larvre,  why  have  they  not  kept  down  the  increase  of  these 
insects?  To  this  it  must  be  answered  that  we  have  not  birds 
enough,  nor  are  there  likely  ever  to  be  enough,  to  do  away 
with  these  pests  entirely,  unless  birds  learn  to  eat  the  eggs. 
Other  natural  enemies  must  also  help  in  this  work,  if  we  are 
to  see  an  end  of  the  moth  plague  ;  but  there  is  little  that  we 
can  do  to  protect  the  insect  enemies  of  the  moth  or  to  insure 
their  multiplication,  while  we  can  protect  and  feed  the  birds, 
and  so  secure  an  increase  in  their  numbers.  In  so  far  as 
we  are  able  to  take  measures  that  will  result  in  increasing 
the  numbers  of  certain  birds,  just  so  far  shall  we  be  able  to 
prevent  the  increase  of  destructive  insects.  As  time  goes 
on,  it  is  probable  that  birds  will  become  more  and  more  effi- 
cient as  enemies  of  the  gipsy  moth  and  the  brown-tail  moth, 
as  they  learn  better  how  to  manage  them.  It  seemed  appar- 
ent that  thev  had  not  learned  to  eat  the  eggs  of  the  gipsy 
moth  up  to  1896,  when  my  last  studies  on  that  subject  were 
made ;  still,  now  that  ten  years  have  passed,  the  subject 
should  be  investigated  again.  It  is  quite  possible  that  by 
this  time  some  birds  ma}'  have  learned  that  these  eggs  are 
good  for  food.  As  the  gipsy  moth  spends  more  than  half 
the  year  in  the  egg,  this  is  its  most  vulnerable  point.  If 
Jays,  Creepers,  Nuthatches,  Woodpeckers,  and  other  birds 
could  learn  to  eat  these  eggs,  as  European  birds  are  said  to 
do,  they  would  then  have  an  increased  food  supply  the  year 
round.  Naturally  they  would  increase  in  numbers,  and  thus 


148 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


an  effective  natural   check  to  the  gipsy  moth  in  America 

would  be  established,  provided  these  birds  were  protected. 

But  the  egg  clusters  of  these  insects  are  covered  with  a  fine, 
yellow  hair,  which  causes  them  to 
resemble  in  appearance  a  fungous 
growth  which  often  appears  on 
trees.  Apparently  the  birds  failed 
to  recognize  anything  edible  in 
them,  and  whenever  a  bird  broke 
open  an  egg  cluster,  the  fine  hairs 
sticking  to  the  beak  seemed  to  dis- 
gust it. 

The  brown-tail  moth  is  more  ex- 
posed to  the  attacks  of  birds  than 
is  the  gipsy  moth,  since  the  larvae 
hibernate  in  their  nests  in  curled- 
up  leaves  that  remain  on  the  tree 
all  winter.  Already  some  birds  are 
learning  to  open  these  winter  nests 
and  to  extract  the  larvae  from  them. 

If  the  birds  once  learn  this  lesson  thoroughly,  the  power  of 

this  pest  will  be  greatly  lessened. 


Fig.  45.  — Egg  cluster  of  gipsj 
moth. 


SERVICE    OF  BIRDS   IN   THE    ORCHARD.  149 


CHAPTER  iv. 

THE  ECONOMIC  SERVICE   OF  BIRDS  IN  THE  ORCHARD. 

The  conditions  in  the  orchard  regarding  bird  life  approx- 
imate those  in  the  woods.  The  trees  offer  some  shelter  to 
birds,  and  also  nesting  places  secure  from  such  of  their 
enemies  as  cannot  climb  or  fly.  The  cutting  over  of  wood 
lots  destroys  the  breeding  places  of  such  birds  as  nest  in 
hollow  trees.  Apple  trees,  on  the  other  hand,  are  allowed 
to  stand  for  a  century  or  more  if  they  still  bear  profitable 
fruit  crops.  Many  orchard  trees  are  much  decayed,  as  a 
result  of  neglect  or  bad  pruning,  and  the  dead  and  hollow 
trunks  furnish  homes  to  such  birds  as  once  bred  in  the  decay- 
ing trees  of  the  woods.  The  trees  in  the  orchard  also  provide 
an  abundance  of  insect  food.  They  are  usually  planted  in 
or  near  fields  or  gardens,  where  many  species  of  insects  find 
food  and  shelter.  For  these  reasons,  orchards  are  much 
frequented  by  birds.  The  service  rendered  by  birds  in  pro- 
tecting the  orchard  is  not,  however,  as  effectual  for  man's 
purposes  as  that  given  by  them  to  the  woodland  ;  for  birds 
are  the  servants  of  nature,  and  in  planting  and  cultivating 
the  orchard  man  sets  nature  at  defiance.  His  object  here  is 
not  the  mere  growing  of  trees,  but  rather  the  production  of 
an  improved  variety  of  fruit.  Nature's  efforts,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  put  forth  mainly  to  produce  such  fruit  as  will 
make  for  the  production  and  distribution  of  good  seed  that 
will  insure  the  propagation  of  the  tree.  The  fruit  grown  by 
nature  is  often  considered  by  man  as  unfit  for  food.  He 
wants  fruit  suited  to  his  tastes.  The  seed  is  of  little  value  to 
him,  for  he  does  not  often  use  it,  but  propagates  the  tree  of 
his  choice  by  grafting  or  budding. 

The  production  of  a  vastly  increased  quantity  of  fruit,  of  a 
better  quality  than  the  natural  product,  offers  an  increased 
food  supply  for  the  creatures  that  feed  upon  that  fruit.  So 
the  planting  of  large  fruit-bearing  orchards  gives  the  insects 


150  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


which  feed  upon  the  fruit,  seed,  or  other  parts  of  the  tree 
an  increased  opportunity  to  multiply.  Insects  unfamiliar  to 
our  native  birds  are  introduced.  The  undergrowth,  shrub- 
bery, and  vines  which  shelter  many  such  useful  birds  are 
cleared  away.  This  drives  these  birds  away,  and  so  the  tight 
against  insects  in  the  orchard  is  begun  with  an  inadequate 
number  and  variety  of  birds  and  an  unusual  abundance  of 
insects. 

Even  under  these  adverse  conditions,  the  entire  protection 
of  the  foliage  from  insects  may  be  left  to  birds,  provided  that 
the  orchard  is  favorably  situated,  that  the  birds  are  attracted 
to  it  in  winter,  and  that  those  which  nest  there  in  summer 
are  protected,  encouraged,  and  furnished  with  nesting  places. 
This  I  have  demonstrated  by  a  series  of  experiments,  cover- 
ing a  period  of  about  ten  years. 

The  protection  of  the  trees  and"  their  foliage  by  birds  in- 
sures the  maturing  of  such  fruit  as  the  trees  will  bear ;  and, 
as  probably  two-thirds  of  the  fruit  trees  in  Massachusetts 
receive  little  care  at  the  hands  of  their  owners,  the  people 
of  the  Commonwealth  are  largely  indebted  to  the  birds  for  a 
great  part  of  their  annual  fruit  crop.  Even  as  it  is,  insect 
pests  destroy  a  large  part  of  the  apple  crop  in  some  seasons, 
and  hardly  a  hand  appears  to  be  raised  to  stay  them.  Hence 
I  repeat  that  such  fruit  crops  as  we  get  are  largely  due  to  the 
protection  our  trees  receive  from  the  birds. 

My  first  attempt  at  availing  myself  of  the  services  of  the 
birds  in  an  orchard  was  made  in  1894-95,  and  the  result  was 
given  in  a  bulletin  issued  by  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture. 
The  winter  birds  were  attracted  to  the  orchard,  and  fre- 
quented the  trees  during  the  entire  winter  of  1894-95.  In 
the  fall,  winter,  and  spring  they  destroyed  many  thousands 
of  the  imagoes  and  eggs  of  the  fall  and  spring  cankerworm 
moths,  the  eggs  of  the  tent  caterpillar,  and  probably  also  the 
pupae  and  imagoes  of  the  codling  moth,  besides  scales,  tineids, 
and  other  enemies  of  the  trees.  When  spring  came,  efforts 
were  made  to  attract  the  summer  birds  to  the  orchard.  These 
attempts  met  with  such  signal  success  that,  although  most  of 
the  eggs  and  young  birds  were  destroyed  by  cats,  boys, 
Crows,  and  other  agencies,  the  remaining  injurious  insects 


SERVICE    OF  BIRDS   IN   THE    ORCHARD.  151 

were  so  completely  disposed  of  by  the  birds  that  the  trees 
bore  luxuriant  foliage  during  the  entire  summer,  and  produced 
a  good  crop  of  fruit.  This  occurred  in  a  season  when  both 
the  tent  caterpillar  and  the  cankerworm  were  remarkably 
prevalent.  The  only  other  orchard  in  the  neighborhood 
that  produced  any  fruit  whatever  was  that  of  the  nearest 
neighbor.  (See  p.  169.)  This  had  been  partly  protected  by 
tarred  bands  and  partly  by  the  birds  from  my  place.  Else- 
where in  the  town  most  of  the  apple  trees  were  defoliated, 
and  very  few  produced  any  fruit  that  year.  While  the  result 
secured  in  such  an  exceptional  year  seemed  remarkable,  the 
experience  of  succeeding  years  has  demonstrated  that  it  was 
not  so.  Year  after  year  we  have  kept  the  trees  free  from 
serious  insect  injury,  without  spraying  or  otherwise  protect- 
ing the  foliage,  merely  by  a  little  effort  and  expenditure  to 
attract  the  birds  and  furnish  them  safe  homes.  While  the 
protection  of  the  tree  itself  is  essential  (i.e.,  its  trunk,  limbs, 
twigs,  and  bark),  the  protection  of  its  foliage,  which  shades 
the  fruit  and  so  allows  it  to  mature,  is  also  imperative. 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  he  who  wishes  a  large 
crop  of  the  finest  fruit  must  himself  prevent  the  inroads  of 
those  insects  which  attack  the  fruit  directly.  There  are  two 
insects  of  this  class  which  the  birds  have  thus  far  failed  to 
control  completely  ;  and,  while  birds  might  possibly  check 
such  insects  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  I  believe 
that  ordinarily  they  cannot  be  relied  upon  to  do  so.  The  in- 
sects referred  to  are  the  codling  moth  (  Carpocapsa  pomoneUa) 
and  the  apple-fruit  maggot  or  "railroad  worm"  (Rhagoletis 
pomoneUa).  These  insects  are  for  a  greater  part  of  their 
lives  protected  from  the  attacks  of  birds  by  being  hidden 
either  in  ground,  rough  bark,  or  fruit.  Only  a  few  birds  are 
known  to  dig  out  the  larva?  of  the  codling  moth  from  their 
hiding  places  ;  probably  fewer  still  find  the  railroad  worm. 
Weevils  or  curculios  are  eaten  by  many  birds  ;  still,  suffi- 
cient numbers  usually  escape  to  spoil  much  fruit ;  and  the 
pernicious  introduced  San  Jose  scale  seems  to  be  overlooked 
thus  far  by  birds. 

It  cannot  be  expected  of  the  birds  that  they  will  become 
efficient  allies  of  man  in  protecting  his  artificially  propagated 


152  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


fruit  from  the  attacks  of  all  the  too  numerous  insects  that 
are  introduced  and  fostered  by  his  methods.  The  bird  is 
designed  to  assist  in  carrying  on  nature's  work  in  maintain- 
ing such  a  balance  of  her  forces  as  will  allow  the  production 
of  a  natural  fruitage.  Birds  merely  perform  a  service  in 
the  orchard  similar  to  their  natural  work  in  the  woodland, 
by  protecting  the  tree  from  the  enemies  which,  under  normal 
conditions,  attack  its  different  members.  In  the  mean  time, 
birds  feed  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  on  the  fruit  which  they 
protect.  While  such  service  as  they  may  render  in  direct 
protection  of  the  fruit  should  be  placed  to  their  credit,  they 
cannot  be  expected  to  deviate  much  from  those  habits  which 
they  have  contracted  under  natural  conditions,  or  to  make 
any  special  effort  to  assist  man  in  producing  an  unnatural 
surplus  of  fruit.  Birds  are  not  as  essential  to  the  orchard 
of  the  intelligent,  enterprising,  modern  fruit  grower,  who 
sprays  his  trees  and  cares  for  them  in  every  possible  way, 
as  they  are  to  those  of  ordinary  mortals.  Nevertheless,  so 
long  as  human  nature  continues  as  it  is  to-day,  the  birds  will 
always  be  a  great  help  in  the  orchards  of  the  poor,  or  of  those 
who  for  various  reasons  have  not  the  spare  time  or  money 
necessary  to  enable  them  to  care  for  their  trees  in  the  most 
approved  and  scientific  way. 

A  series  of  poison  sprays  used  for  the  destruction  of  the 
codling  moth  will  destroy  most  other  leaf-eating  insects,  and 
so  protect  both  fruit  and  foliage.  There  is,  however,  a  host 
of  tiny  insects  that  are  not  affected  by  any  amount  of  arseni- 
cal spraying,  —  insects  so  small,  indeed,  that  their  presence  is 
seldom  noticed  until  the  injury  done  by  them  has  progressed 
so  far  as  to  destroy  the  fruit.  Such  insects  are  the  plant  lice 
and  their  allies,  the  bark  lice,  scales,  and  all  the  lilliputian 
host  that  unnoticed  sucks  out  the  juices  of  the  tree  from 
trunk,  limbs,  twigs,  leaves,  or  fruit.  Warblers,  Titmice, 
Creepers,  and  Nuthatches  are  often  very  efficient  helps  in 
holding  the  increase  of  such  insects  in  check. 

As  an  instance  of  the  unnoticed  beneficial  guardianship  of 
the  birds  over  our  orchard  trees,  I  will  relate  a  recent  expe- 
rience of  my  own.  The  reader  has  already  been  told  how 
in  the  spring  of  1905  I  left  my  trees  to  the  tender  mer- 


SERVICE    OF  BIRDS   IN   THE    ORCHARD.  153 

cies  of  the  caterpillars,  trusting  them  to  the  care  and  pro- 
tection of  the  birds.  1  visited  the  place  occasionally  during 
the  summer,  and  in  the  fall  saw  that  measures  were  taken, 
as  usual,  to  attract  the  birds.  On  November  121  returned 
for  the  winter,  and  noticed  no  evidence  of  insect  injury 
among  the  fruit  trees.  A  small  flock  of  Myrtle  Warblers 
and  some  Goldfinches  were  very  busy  among  the  apple 
trees,  and  were  paying  particular  attention  to  the  pear  trees 
near  the  house.  I  was  told  that  they  had  been  coming  there 
for  about  two  weeks.  Realizing  at  once  that  they  must  be 
engaged  upon  those  leafless  trees  in  the  suppression  of  some 
insect,  I  examined  the  trees  casually,  but  at  first  was  unable 
to  find  the  object  of  their  quest.  One  of  the  birds  was 
watched  closely.  It  was  taking  something  from  the  lower 
sides  of  the  twigs  and  the  crevices  between  them.  With  a 
glass  it  was  seen  to  take  some  very  small  insects  that  were 
hiding  in  these  situations.  Evidently  the  insects  were  no 
longer  plentiful,  as  the  birds  had  to  search  somewhat  to  find 
them,  and  the  only  way  in  which  I  could  find  a  specimen 
was  by  driving  a  bird  away  just  as  it  was  about  to  attack  the 
insect,  and  then  examining  the  twig.  Three  tiny  insects, 
which  appeared  like  little  cicada-shaped  flies,  were  found 
and  secured  in  this  way.  Two  of  these  were  forwarded  to 
Dr.  L.  O.  Howard,  chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Entomology,  at 
Washington,  who  identified  them  as  adults  or  imagoes  of 
the  pear  tree  psylla  (Psylla pyri},  a  pest  imported  into  this 
country  from  Europe  about  1832.  According  to  Circular 
No.  7,  second  series,  issued  from  Dr.  Howard's  office,  an 
overwhelming  invasion  of  this  insect  occurred  in  the  year 
1894  in  one  of  the  largest  pear  orchards  in  Maryland  ;  there 
were  similar  occurrences  in  Virginia  and  Xew  Jersey.  This 
insect  has  long  been  known  as  a  pest  of  the  pear  tree.  It  is 
a  true  bug,  of  the  order  Homoptera,  intermediate  between 
the  scale  insects  and  the  plant  lice  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
cicadas  and  larger  plant  bugs  on  the  other.  The  Psyllidse 
are  commonly  known  as  the  jumping  plant  lice,  on  account 
of  their  vaulting  ability.  They  are  extremely  prolific,  having 
several  broods  each  year.  In  the  infested  Maryland  orchards 
the  leaves  and  fruit  fell,  the  latter  before  it  was  half  grown, 


154  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


and  the  trunks  of  the  trees  appeared  as  if  smoked.  The 
enormous  secretion  of  honeydew  that  the  hosts  of  these 
insects  produced  from  the  sap  of  the  trees  fell  like  rain, 
drenching  the  horses  used  in  cultivating  the  orchard,  and 
running  down  the  trunks  in  such  quantities  that  it  extended 
in  a  discolored  circle  from  six  to  eight  inches  from  the  base 
of  each  tree.  This  information  comes  from  the  above-men- 
tioned circular. 

If  the  birds  had  been  engaged  for  more  than  two  weeks  in 
clearing  these  insects  from  the  few  pear  trees  about  my  home, 
there  must  have  been  a  great  number  of  insects  on  those  trees, 
for  the  pests  are  so  small  that  each  bird  might  eat  thousands 
of  them  in  a  day.  At  the  time  of  my  return  the  insects  were 
evidently  becoming  scarce  ;  but  the  birds  persevered  in  their 
attentions  to  those  trees,  until  in  a  few  days  I  could  not  dis- 
cover a  single  specimen  of  the  insect ;  but  even  after  that  they 
looked  the  trees  over  occasionally,  and  still  found  a  few.  By 
the  end  of  another  week,  however,  they  had  exhausted  the 
supply,  and,  although  they  were  seen  occasionally  in  the 
woods,  they  seldom  visited  our  trees.  Apparently  this  was 
an  incipient  outbreak  of  a  pest,  brood  after  brood  of  which 
had  probably  been  attacked  by  birds  during  the  summer. 
As  autumn  came  on,  and  the  summer  Warblers  left  on  their 
southern  migration,  the  last  brood  developed.  The  late- 
coming  Warblers  found  them,  and  eagerly  completed  the  task 
left  unfinished  by  the  summer  birds.  The  pear  trees  had  con- 
tinued to  bear  both  foliage  and  fruit  as  usual,  and  showed 
no  injury.  They  will  probably  receive  a  similar  protection 
next  year. 

Dr.  Howard  intimates  in  his  bulletin  that  the  causes 
which  control  the  increase  and  decrease  in  numbers  of  this 
insect  are  not  fully  understood.  Here  is  one  agency  of 
control  that  we  can  understand.  It  would  be  interesting 
to  know  to  what  extent  this  insect  is  distributed  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  how  much  the  birds  are  doing  to  control  it. 
These  insects  are  so  tiny  as  to  escape  observation,  and  this 
episode  would  have  passed  unrecorded,  like  so  many  others 
of  its  kind,  had  I  remained  away  from  home  a  few  days 
longer. 


SONG   BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.        155 


CHAPTER   V. 
SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND. 

The  common  birds  that  live  and  feed  in  woodland  or 
orchard  are  usually  of  the  greatest  service  there.  Those  few 
that  nest  in  orchard  or  woodland,  but  seek  most  of  their  food 
elsewhere,  while  occasionally  of  much  service  in  protecting  the 
trees,  are  ordinarily  of  more  value  in  the  field  or  garden,  and 
will  be  considered  later  among  the  birds  of  those  localities. 
Those  common  species  that  may  be  found  in  Massachusetts 
throughout  the  year,  and  therefore  are  known  as  residents, 
are  most  useful  to  man  ;  but  those  that  remain  here  only  in 
summer  or  winter  have  considerable  economic  value.  Such 
familiar  birds  will  be  briefly  described  and  also  figured  in 
this  chapter  and  those  following.  Those  species  that  merely 
pass  through  the  State  in  migration  will  receive  but  brief 
mention,  or  none,  except  such  as  are  known  to  be  conspicu- 
ously useful  while  here.  The  Shrikes,  Hawks,  Owls,  Crows, 
and  Jays  will  be  treated  separately  among  the  enemies  of  birds. 

WOODLAND   THRUSHES. 

The  Thrush  family  is  considered  the  highest  group  among 
birds,  and  is  ranked  accordingly,  although  the  Crows,  Jays, 
and  Titmice  exhibit  in  certain  ways  a  higher  degree  of 
intelligence. 

The  Thrushes  of  the  genus  Hylocichla  are  mainly  wood- 
land birds,  although  some  members  of  the  family  are  com- 
monly seen  feeding  in  gardens  and  fields. 

Professor  Forbes's  studies  of  the  food  of  the  American 
genera  of  this  family  in  Illinois  (including  also  the  Catbird 
and  Brown  Thrasher)  show  that  sixt}r-one  per  cent,  of  their 
food  consists  of  insects,  one  per  cent,  of  myriapods  (com- 
monly called  thousand  legs),  and  thirty-two  per  cent,  of 
fruit.  Thirty  parts  of  the  food  consist  of  injurious  insects, 
and  only  seven  of  beneficial  species.  His  examinations  were 


156  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


made  on  adult  birds ;  and,  were  the  food  of  the  nestlings 
considered,  the  percentage  of  injurious  insects  eaten  would 
probably  be  higher.  A  large  proportion  of  the  fruit  eaten 
by  these  birds  in  Massachusetts  consists  of  wild  berries, 
particularly  such  as  are  unfit  for  human  consumption.  The 
family,  therefore,  as  a  whole  is  eminently  beneficial. 

The  Robin  and  Bluebird  are  not  typical  woodland  birds, 
although  the  Robin  both  breeds  and  feeds  in  the  woods  to  a 
considerable  extent.  Both  birds  nest  in  the  orchard,  but  feed 
generally  in  gardens  and  fields.  For  this  reason  they  will 
be  considered  farther  on,  among  the  birds  of  the  field  and 
garden.  The  Hermit  which  breeds  sparingly  in  the  State 
and  the  other  Thrushes  will  be  omitted. 

Wilson's  Thrush.     Tawny  Thrush.     Veery. 
Hylocichla  fuscescens. 

Length. — About  seven  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult.  —  Above,  tawny  brown ;  no  white  eye  ring ;  below,  mainly  whitish ;  throat 

and  upper  breast  washed  with  buffy  or  yellowish  brown,  faintly  marked 

with  a  few  dark  spots. 
Nest.  —  Usually  on  or  quite  near  the  ground,  containing  no  mud  or  leaf  mold, 

and  composed  of  grass,  dried  leaves,  grapevine  bark,  etc. 
Eggs.  —  Greenish-blue;  smaller  than  those  of  the  Robin  and  lighter  than  the 

Catbird's. 
Season.  —  May  to  September. 

This  gentle  bird  may  be  recognized  by  its  light  tawny 
upper  parts  and  the  faintness  of  the  elongated  spots  on  its 
light  brown-washed  breast.  It  is  a  summer  resident  through- 
out most  of  Massachusetts,  but  is  generally  confined  to  the 
vicinity  of  swampy  woods  or  streams,  and  is  not  found 
ordinarily  on  the  summits  of  the  highest  elevations.  It  runs 
about  much  in  the  manner  of  the  Robin,  but  rather  more 
listlessly,  and  often  with  drooping  wings.  Alert,  but  not 
suspicious,  it  seems  to  be  aware  of  its  protective  coloring, 
which  makes  difficult  the  task  of  distinguishing  it  from  the 
leafy  ground  of  its  favorite  groves.  Its  flight  is  rapid,  and 
when  much  alarmed  it  vanishes  swiftly  among  the  vistas  of 
the  woods.  Although  it  often  alights  on  the  lower  branches 
of  trees,  it  is  seldom  seen  among  tree  tops,  but  keeps  habit- 
ually near  the  ground,  where  it  finds  most  of  its  food.  The 
song  of  this  Thrush,  one  of  the  sweetest  sounds  of  the  wood- 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   157 

land,  is  among  the  earliest  notes  of  the  morning,  and  is  often 
heard  during  the  day  and  in  the  dusk  of  evening.  It  consists 
of  several  ringing  phrases  or  triplets,  which  its  name  Veery 
describes  fairly  well.  It  is  not  so  full-toned  as  the  songs  of 
other  Thrushes,  but  has  an  attenuated  sound.  Robert  Ridg- 
way  expresses  the  quality  of  the  phrases  by 
the  syllables  "  taiceel'ah,  taweeTah,  tw'd- 
ah,  twil-ah.''  The  last  two  phrases  are 
lower  in  tone  than  the  first,  and  end 
with  a  vibrating  chord  which  sug- 
gests the  vanishing  of  the  note 
into  ethereal  space.  The 
melody  often  has  a  muffled 
sound  when  heard  near  by, 
but  at  a  distance  it  seems 
to  ring  out  clear.  To  be 
fully  appreciated,  this  song  Fig.  46.-wnson'S  Thrush,  tw-o-twrds 
must  be  heard  when  one  is  natural  8ize- 

alone  in  the  deep  woods,  among  the  falling  shades  of  the 
coming  night.  It  breathes  the  spirit  of  the  dying  day. 
Sometimes  at  evening  these  Thrush  songs  reply  to  one 
another  like  echoes  in  the  moonlight. 

The  bird  sings  soon  after  its  arrival  in  May,  and  usually 
ceases  when  the  molting  period  begins.  It  sings  little  dur- 
ing a  long  drought,  but  becomes  vocal  after  a  rain.  The 
ordinary  note  of  the  Veery  is  a  sort  of  whee-oo,  half  chirp, 
half  whistle,  which  often  has  a  peculiarly  liquid  sound.  It 
has  also  a  sharp  chick,  a  prolonged,  bleating  aaah,  and  other 
occasional  cries. 

The  Yeery  feeds  very  largely  on  insects.  Those  which 
frequent  the  ground  and  the  lower  parts  of  trees  are  com- 
monly sought.  Ants,  ground  beetles,  curculios,  and  grass- 
hoppers are  favorites.  It  goes  to  the  fields  sometimes  at 
early  morning,  probably  in  search  of  beetles,  cutworms,  and 
earthworms.  It  has  been  seen,  now  and  then,  to  eat  the 
hairy  caterpillars  of  the  gipsy  moth.  It  feeds  considerably 
in  the  trees,  and  so  takes  many  caterpillars  ;  but  is  not  usu- 
ally seen  much  in  gardens  or  orchards,  except  such  as  are 
situated  near  woods.  In  summer  and  fall  it  eats  wild  fruit, 


158 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


but  seldom  troubles  cultivated  varieties, 
is  a  harmless  and  most  useful  species. 


Taken  all  in  all,  it 


Wood  Thrush.     Song  Thrush.     Wood   Robin. 

Hylocichla  mustelina. 
Length.  — About  eight  inches. 
Adult.  —  Above,  mostly  cinnamon-brown,  reddest  on  head ;  eye  ring  white ;  below, 

mainly  white,  with  large,  rounded,  dark-brown  spots  on  breast  and  sides. 
Nest.  —  On  shrub  sapling  or  low  branch,  six  to  ten  feet  up ;  much  like  that  of  the 

Eobin,  but  usually  composed  of  more  woodsy  material ;  the  mud  is  often 

replaced  by  leaf  mold. 

Eggs.  —  Usually  four ;  greenish-blue ;  resembling  those  of  the  Robin,  but  smaller. 
Season. — May  to  September. 

The  Wood  Thrush  is,  as  its  name  indicates,  primarily  a 
bird  of  the  woods,  preferring  the  tall  timber  in  some  shady 
dell,  where  pure  floods  from  the  never-failing  springs  of 
the  hills  have  gathered  into  a  water  course. 
Here,  where  the  rushing  stream  dallies  on 
its  way  among  moss-grown  rocks,  where 
the  skunk  cabbage  grows,  where  rank 
ferns  and  lush  mosses  hide  the  oozy 
ground,  and  where  great  swamp 
maples  stand  cool  and  tall, 
the  Wood  Thrush  loves  to 
dwell.  Its  apparent  na- 
tive modesty  and  retir- 
ing disposition,  its  love 
for  shade  and  solitude, 
seem  to  be  prominent 
characteristics  of  this 
sylvan  recluse.  Still,  of 
recent  years  the  bird  is 
often  found  about  the  haunts  of  men,  particularly  in  places 
where  it  is  protected,  and  where  large  and  clustering  shade 
trees  afford  it  cool  retreats.  Its  carriage  as  it  hops  or  runs 
upon  the  ground  is  somewhat  like  that  of  a  Robin.  Rather 
sedentary  in  habit,  it  seems  to  be  confined  during  the  breed- 
ing season  to  a  limited  area  around  its  home,  where  its  song 
may  be  heard  more  or  less  at  all  hours,  but  mainly  during  the 
cooler  portions  of  the  day,  throughout  the  summer  months. 


Fig.   47. —  Wood  Thrush,  two-thirds  natural 
size. 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   159 

The  song  of  the  Wood  Thrush  is  one  of  the  finest  specimens 
of  bird  music  that  America  can  produce.  Among  all  the 
bird  songs  that  I  have  ever  heard,  it  is  second  only  in  quality 
to  that  of  the  Hermit  Thrush.  It  is  not  projected  upon  the 
still  air  with  the  effort  that  characterizes  the  bold  and  vigor- 
ous lay  of  the  Robin,  or  the  loud  and  intermittent  carol  of 
the  Thrasher.  Its  tones  are  solemn  and  serene.  They  seem 
to  harmonize  with  the  sounds  of  the  forest,  the  whispering 
breeze,  the  purling  water,  or  the  falling  of  rain  drops  in  the 
summer  woods.  As  with  most  other  birds,  there  is  a  great 
difference  in  the  excellence  of  individual  performers,  and, 
while  some  males  of  the  species  can  produce  such  notes  as 
few  birds  can  rival,  this  cannot  truly  be  said  of  all.  At 
evening  the  bird  usually  mounts  to  the  higher  branches  of 
the  taller  trees,  often  upon  the  edge  of  the  forest,  where 
nothing  intervenes  to  confine  or  subdue  his  "heavenly  music." 
There,  sitting  quite  erect,  he  emits  his  wonderful  notes  in 
the  most  leisurely  fashion,  and  apparently  with  little  effort. 
A  olee,  he  sings,  and  rests;  then,  unhurried,  pours  forth  a 
series  of  intermittent  strains  which  seem  to  express  in  music 
the  sentiment  of  nature  ;  powerful,  rich,  metallic,  with  the 
vanishing  vibratory  tones  of  the  bell,  they  seem  like  a  vocal 
expression  of  the  mystery  of  the  universe,  clothed  in  a 
melody  so  pure  and  ethereal  that  the  soul  still  bound  to  its 
earthly  tenement  can  neither  imitate  nor  describe  it.  The 
song  rises  and  falls,  swells  and  dies  away,  until  dark  night 
has  fallen.  The  alarm  note  of  the  bird  is  a  sharp  _/?<?,  pit, 
several  times  repeated  ;  this  alarum  often  rises  to  a  long  roll. 
A  soft  cluck,  also  repeated,  is  sometimes  heard.  A  mellow, 
rather  liquid  chirp  is  another  common  note. 

The  food  of  the  Wood  Thrush  consists  largely  of  insects. 
A  considerable  portion  of  fruit  is  taken  in  summer  and  fall. 
Owing,  perhaps,  to  the  usually  retiring  habits  of  the  bird, 
cultivated  fruit  is  seldom  eaten ;  but,  as  wild  blackberries, 
strawberries,  cherries,  and  gooseberries  are  taken,  the  culti- 
vated varieties  of  those  fruits  probably  are  eaten  to  some 
extent  where  the  birds  breed  in  the  vicinity  of  dwellings. 
The  amount  taken,  however,  is  not  large  in  any  case.  In 
examining  twenty-two  specimens  of  this  Thrush,  taken  from 


160  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


April  to  September,  Professor  Forbes  found  that  seventy-one 
per  cent,  of  their  food  consisted  of  insects,  twenty  per  cent, 
of  fruit,  and  a  small  percentage  of  mollusks  and  spiders, 
together  with  a  large  portion  of  myriapods.  Mollusks,  par- 
ticularly clams,  mussels,  and  snails,  are  eaten  by  many  birds, 
while  the  niyriapod,  or  thousand  legs,  and  the  ground  spiders 
are  eaten  by  most  ground-frequenting  species. 

The  Wood  Thrush  takes  its  food  from  ground,  shrubbery, 
and  trees  in  the  woods,  and  even  invades  the  grass  land  at 
times,  where  it  is  said,  like  the  Robin,  to  take  earthworms.  It 
eats  injurious  grasshoppers  and  crickets,  also  ground  beetles 
and  their  larvae,  click  beetles,  wireworms,  and  other  Coleop- 
tera,  both  tree-feeding  and  ground-feeding  species.  It  gleans 
cutworms  from  lawn  and  field,  and  is  particularly  fond  of  ants. 
It  also  does  good  service  in  killing  some  of  the  most  destruc- 
tive caterpillar  pests,  not  neglecting  the  hairy  species,  like 
the  forest  tent  caterpillar,  and  the  larvae  of  the  gipsy  moth 
and  the  brown-tail  moth,  as  well  as  most  of  the  hairless  spe- 
cies, such  as  both  the  fall  and  spring  cankerworms,  of  which  it 
is  fond.  It  also  destroys  the  rose  beetle,  as  Professor  Forbes 
found  the  stomach  of  one  specimen  crammed  with  them. 

This  species  appears  to  be  quite  as  valuable  as  the  Robin 
in  its  insectivorous  habits ;  and,  as  it  eats  far  less  fruit  than 
the  Robin,  it  must  be  of  great  service  to  man  whenever  it 
can  be  induced  to  nest  about  his  dwellings.  Were  cats, 
birds'-egging  boys,  and  bird-killing  Italians  suppressed,  this 
bird  might  become  as  domestic  as  the  Robin,  if  not  as  com- 
mon. The  prospect  of  the  transmutation  of  the  substance 
of  noxious  caterpillars,  grubs,  and  beetles  into  the  glorious 
music  of  the  Song  Thrush,  should  stimulate  us  to  learn  how 
to  attract  it  to  our  homes  and  domesticate  it  there  for  all 
time. 

KINGLETS. 

These  pigmy  birds  are  probably  among  the  most  useful 
species  in  woodlands.  They  are  extremely  small,  ranking 
next  in  size  to  Hummingbirds,  and  therefore  feed  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  on  minute  forest  insects  so  small  as  to  escape 
most  other  birds.  They  are  peculiarly  fitted  to  care  for  the 
trees,  for  they  are  able  not  only  to  creep  about  the  trunks 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   161 

and  limbs,  like  the  Creepers  and  Titmice,  but  they  have  all 
the  skill  of  the  Warblers  in  searching  the  foliage,  and  they 
are  also  such  excellent  flycatchers  that  it  is  difficult  for  the 
smallest  and  swiftest  insects  to  escape  them.  The  Ruby- 
crowned  Kinglet  is  a  mere  migrant  through  the  State  in  fall 
and  spring,  but  the  Golden-crowned  Kinglet  may  be  found 
in  our  woods,  orchards,  or  shade  trees  not  only  in  fall  and 
in  spring  but  during  the  winter,  and  it  breeds  in  northern 
Worcester  County  and  in  Berkshire  County. 

Golden-crowned    Kinglet. 

Regulus  satrapa. 

Length.  —  About  four  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Above,  gray  and  olive-green  mainly,  with  yellowish-olive  show- 
ing decidedly  on  wings  and  tail ;  a  bright,  glossy  orange  crown  spot,  edged 
with  yellow,  fronted  and  bordered  on  the  sides  by  a  black  streak,  which  also 
is  bordered  by  a  whitish  streak,  above  the  eye ;  below,  dull  grayish-white. 

Adult  Female. — Like  male,  but  lacking  the  orange  center  of  the  crown  patch, 
which  is  replaced  by  yellow. 

Nest.  — A  ball  of  moss,  feathers,  etc.,  in  an  evergreen  tree. 

Eyys-  — Numerous,  white,  thickly  but  faintly  speckled  with  buffy  spots. 

Season.  —  Resident  in  some  localities,  but  usually  seen  between  September  and 
April. 

The  Golden-crowned  Kinglet  probably  does  not  breed  in 
Massachusetts  except  where  the  Canadian  flora  is  found  on 
some  of  the  higher  lands  of  the  central  and  western  sections. 
Its  note,  as  commonly  heard,  is  a  weak 
chirp  or  a  fine  fxee,  (see,  txee.  Its  song 
I  cannot  attempt  to  describe. 

Unfortunately,  no  careful  study  of 
its  food  habits  has  ever  been  made, 
but  it  is  said  to  be  almost  entirely 
insectivorous.  It  is  believed  to  feed  Fig.  48.  -  Golden-crowned 

,  -,  i        i     i        ii  i  Kinglet,  natural  size. 

largely  on  bark  beetles,  scale  insects, 

and  the  eggs  of  injurious  moths  and  plant  lice. 

Kinglets  are  particularly  serviceable  in  woodlands,  espe- 
cially among  the  coniferous  trees  in  which  they  dwell.  At 
Wareham,  on  Dec.  25,  1905,  I  watched  the  Gold-crest  hunt- 
ing its  insect  food  amid  the  pines.  The  birds  were  flutter- 
ing about  among  the  trees.  Each  one  would  hover  for  a 
moment  before  a  tuft  of  pine  "needles,"  and  then  either 
alight  upon  it  and  feed,  or  pass  on  to  another.  I  examined 


162  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


the  "needles "  after  the  Kinglets  had  left  them,  and  could  find 
nothing  on  them  ;  but  when  a  bird  was  disturbed  before  it  had 
finished  feeding,  the  spray  from  which  it  had  been  driven  was 
invariably  found  to  be  infested  with  numerous  black  specks, 
the  eggs  of  plant  lice.  Evidently  the  birds  were  cleaning 
each  spray  thoroughly,  as  far  as  they  went. 

Since  the  above  was  written  several  of  these  infested  sprays 
have  been  sent  to  Prof.  F.  E.  L.  Beal  of  the  Biological 
Survey,  who  submitted  them  to  Mr.  Pergande  of  the  Bureau 
of  Entomology,  who  says  that  they  are  the  eggs  of  a  plant 
louse  of  the  genus  Lachnus,  and  in  all  probability  Lachnus 
slrobi,  the  white  pine  louse.  The  pines  are  considerably 
infested,  and  several  pairs  of  Kinglets  have  been  seen  feed- 
ing upon  the  eggs. 

Again  since  the  above  was  written  I  have  had  occasion  to 
observe  the  work  of  Kinglets  in  our  home  grove  of  white 
pine.  For  the  past  two  years  certain  plant  lice  or  bark  lice 
that  infest  these  trees  have  been  increasing  so  rapidly  in 
the  grove  as  to  menace  the  trees;  but  on  Dec.  29,  1905, 
seven  Kinglets  were  seen  feeding  there.  As  it  was  unusual 
to  see  so  many  there,  they  were  carefully  watched.  They 
were  not  working  upon  the  foliage,  as  in  the  case  mentioned 
above,  but  mainly  on  the  trunks  and  larger  branches.  They 
were  very  unsuspicious,  and  it  was  easy  to  see  that  they 
were  feeding  upon  the  eggs  of  the  aphids.  Some  of  these 
eggs  were  sent  to  Dr.  L.  O.  Howard,  who  gave  it  as  his 
opinion  that  they  belonged  to  some  species  of  Lachnus. 
These  eggs  were  deposited  in  masses  on  the  bark  of  the  pines 
from  a  point  near  the  ground  up  to  a  height  of  thirtv-five  feet. 
The  trees  must  have  been  infested  with  countless  thousands 
of  these  eggs,  for  the  band  of  Kinglets  remained  there  until 
March  25,  almost  three  months  later,  apparently  feeding  most 
of  the  time  on  these  eggs.  When  they  had  cleared  the 
branches  the  little  birds  fluttered  about  the  trunks,  hanging 
poised  on  busy  wing,  like  Hummingbirds  before  a  flower, 
meanwhile  rapidly  pecking  the  clinging  eggs  from  the  bark. 
In  those  three  months  they  must  have  suppressed  hosts  of 
little  tree  pests,  for  I  have  never  seen  birds  more  industrious 
and  assiduous  in  their  attentions  to  the  trees.  One  might 


SONG   BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       163 

expect  such  work  of  Creepers  or  of  Woodpeckers  ;  but  the 
Kinglets  seemed  to  have  departed  from  their  usual  habits  of 
gleaning  among  limbs  and  foliage,  to  take  the  place  of  the 
missing  Creepers,  not  one  of  which  was  seen  in  the  grove 
last  winter. 

NUTHATCHES   AND   TITS. 

This  useful  family  is  well  represented  here  in  woodland  and 
orchard  by  three  common  species,  one  Titmouse  and  two  Nut- 
hatches. The  Hudsonian  Titmouse  is  too  rare  to  be  of  any 
economic  importance.  The  common  Titmouse  or  Chickadee 
is  a  well-known  species  that  visits  every  village  and  farm. 
The  Nuthatches  may  be  known  by  their  short  tails  and  their 
habit  of  climbing  about  over  the  trunks  and  limbs  of  trees, 
somewhat  after  the  manner  of  Woodpeckers,  except  that  they 
do  not  use  the  tail  as  a  support,  as  the  Woodpeckers  and 
Creepers  do,  and  that  they  often  move  about  head  downwards, 
or  suspend  themselves  in  this  manner,  which  Woodpeckers 
seldom  do.  The  name  Nuthatch  probably  originated  from 
nuthack  or  nuthacker.  It  was  first  applied  to  the  European 
species  because  of  its  habit  of  cracking  nuts  or  acorns,  — 
presumably  for  the  kernel ;  but  the  American  species  seem 
to  open  nuts  or  acorns  mainly  for  the  insects  that  feed  within. 
In  winter,  however,  these  birds  will  eat  the  kernels  of  broken 
nuts  that  are  often  put  out  for  them  by  humane  people. 
They  can  scarcely  be  called  song  birds,  but  sometimes  the 
males  twitter  softly,  as  if  attempting  to  whisper  a  song. 

Chickadee.     Black-capped   Titmouse. 

Parus  o.tricapillus. 

Length.  —  About  five  and  one-quarter  inches. 
Adult.  —  Top  of  head,  nape,  and  throat  black ;  sides  of  head  and  neck  white; 

back  ashy ;  breast  white ;  wing  feathers  and  tail  feathers  margined  with 

whitish  ;  belly  and  sides  washed  with  creamy  buff. 
Xest.  —  Sometimes  built   in  a  natural  hollow  of  some   tree   in   the   woods  or 

orchard ;  often  placed  in  a  cavity  hollowed  out  by  the  birds  themselves  in 

a  decayed  birch  or  pine  stump,  and  composed  of  moss,  feathers,  and  other 

warm  materials. 
Eggs.  —  Usually  six  or  seven,  but  sometimes  even  ten ;  white,  and  finely  spotted 

with  reddish-brown  or  a  paler  shade. 
Season.  —  Resident. 

The  Chickadee  remains  in  Massachusetts  throughout  the 
year,  but  is  usually  more  commonly  seen  in  winter  than  in 


164  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


summer.  It  nests  in  April  or  May,  and  sometimes  rears 
two  broods  in  a  season.  The  ordinary  cheery  chattering 
call,  from  which  the  bird  derives  its  name,  is  often  varied  in 
the  milder  weather  of  winter  and  toward  spring  by  its  so- 
called  "  phcebe  "  note,  a 
musical,  whistling  call, 
which  by  the  children 
is  sometimes  translated 
'Spring's  come."  Now 
and  then  some  peculiarly 
gifted  male  essays  a  jumble 
of  slightly  musical  notes,  which 
seem  to  be  an  attempt  to  express 
Fig.  49. -chickadee,  one-half  the  unconquerable  cheerfulness  of 

natural  size.  J 

its  nature  ;  but  the  Chickadee's  at- 
tempts at  song  never  give  very  brilliant  results.  Neverthe- 
less, the  little  bird  is  so  happy,  companionable,  and  confiding 
that  in  New  England  it  is  one  of  the  most  beloved  of  the 
feathered  race.  While,  for  a  bird,  it  exhibits  remarkable 
intelligence  in  many  ways,  it  seems  to  confide  in  man  to  an 
unusual  degree.  It  is  an  easy  mark  for  the  small  boy  with 
his  air  gun,  and  numbers  of  these  birds  fall  victims  to  their 
misplaced  confidence  in  human  nature. 

Chickadees  sometimes  go  to  the  camps  of  woodchoppers, 
in  hard  winters,  and  learn  to  take  food  from  the  hand.  One 
day  while  I  was  sitting  on  the  ground  in  the  woods  a  Chick- 
adee alighted  on  a  branch  about  two  feet  away  and  looked 
up  in  my  face ;  and  they  have  often  hovered  within  a  few 
inches  of  my  head,  as  if  about  to  alight  there.  Occasionally 
one  may  be  readily  taught  to  feed  from  the  hand.  Minot 
says  that  they  are  so  merry,  genial,  and  sociable  that  their 
company  is  sought  by  other  birds,  such  as  Creepers,  Nut- 
hatches, Kinglets,  and  Woodpeckers,  whose  habits  are  like 
their  own.  This  has  been  observed  by  every  ornithologist, 
but  no  one  seems  to  have  mentioned  the  fact  that  many  birds 
other  than  those  given  above  seek  the  company  of  the  Chick- 
adee for  a  different  reason.  Every  fall  the  Warblers,  on  their 
way  south,  stop  for  a  time  in  favorable  localities,  and  accom- 
pany the  small  roving  bands  of  Chickadees.  At  this  season 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   165 

one  has  but  to  follow  the  note  of  the  Chickadee  to  find  most 
of  the  smaller  wood  birds.  Warblers  are  not  plentiful  in  the 
woods  at  any  time  when  there  is  a  scarcity  of  their  insect 
food  ;  but  the  industrious,  prying,  resident  Chickadee  knows 
the  ground,  and  where  to  find  food.  His  cheery  notes  call 
the  other  birds  to  him.  The  Chickadees  extract  caterpillars 
from  webs  or  from  rolled-up  leaves  ;  and  the  Warblers  im- 
mediately follow  and  do  likewise,  though  not  with  the  skill 
of  the  Chickadee.  Xow  Chickadee  finds  some  caterpillars 
too  large  for  him  to  swallow  ;  he  catches  one,  places  it  on  a 
branch,  puts  his  foot  upon  it,  and  soon  extracts  from  it  with 
his  beak  all  that  he  desires,  leaving  the  remains  where  they 
fall.  The  Warblers,  less  skillful,  come  along  and  exhaust 
themselves  in  vain  attempts  to  swallow  the  large  caterpillars 
whole.  They  eat  what  smaller  ones  they  can,  however,  and 
leave  the  rest  to  the  Chickadees  and  Vireos.  I  never  yet 
have  seen  a  Chickadee  fail  to  manage  any  insect  that  it  at- 
tacked, although  occasionally  it  drops  one  into  the  under- 
brush. I  once  saw  a  Chickadee  attempting  to  hold  a  monster 
caterpillar,  which  proved  too  strong  for  it.  The  great  worm 
writhed  out  of  the  confining  grasp  and  fell  to  the  ground, 
but  the  little  bird  followed,  caught  it,  whipped  it  over  a  twig, 
and,  swinging  underneath,  caught  each  end  of  the  caterpillar 
with  a  foot,  and  so  held  it  fast  over  the  twig  by  superior 
weight,  and  proceeded,  while  hanging  back  downward,  to  dis- 
sect its  prey.  This  is  one  of  the  most  skillful  acrobatic  feats 
that  a  bird  can  perform,  —  although  I  have  seen 
a  Chickadee  drop  over  backward  from  a  branch, 
in  pursuit  of  an  insect,  catch  it,  and,  turning 
an  almost  complete  somersault  in  the  air,  strike 
right  side  up  again  on  the  leaning  trunk  of  the 
tree.  Indeed,  the  complete  somersault  is  an  every-day  ac- 
complishment of  this  gifted  little  fowl,  and  it  often  swings 
completely  round  a  branch,  like  a  human  acrobat  taking  the 
"giant  swing."  Although  the  Chickadee  ordinarily  is  no 
flycatcher,  it  can  easily  follow  and  catch  in  the  air  any  insect 
that  drops  from  its  clutch.  This  bird  stands  very  close  to  the 
first  place  among  the  useful  birds  of  orchard  and  woodland, 
and  therefore  its  food  habits  merit  an  extended  notice  here. 


166  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


•  Much  of  the  daylight  life  of  the  Chickadee  is  spent  in  a 
busy,  active  pursuit  of  or  search  for  insects  and  their  eggs. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  in  winter,  when  hibernating 
insects  or  their  eggs  must  be  most  diligently  sought,  for 
then  starvation  always  threatens.  But  the  Chickadee  is  one 
of  the  few  insectivorous  birds  that  is  keen-witted 
enough  to  find  abundant  food  and  safe  shelter  dur- 
ing the  inclement  northern  winter.  Nevertheless, 
its  busy  search  for  food  is  sometimes  interrupted 
for  so  long  a  time  during  severe  storms,  when  the 
trees  are  encased  in  ice,  that  it  dies  from  cold  and  hunger. 
During  a  sleet  storm  Mr.  C.  E.  Bailey  saw  two  Chickadees 
creep  under  the  loose  clapboards  of  an  old  building  for 
shelter.  Their  tails  were  so  weighted  down  with  ice  that 
they  could  hardly  fly,  and  had  he  not  cared  for  them  they 
might  have  perished. 

The  Chickadee,  notwithstanding  its  hardiness,  requires 
protection  from  cold  winds  and  storms  at  night.  It  finds 
such  shelter  either  in  some  hollow  tree  or  in  some  deserted 
bird  nest.  Late  one  cold  and  snowy  afternoon  Mr.  Bailey 
detected  a  movement  in  a  cavity  under  an  old  Crow's  nest, 
and  on  climbing  the  tree  he  found  two  Chickadees  nestling 
there.  They  remained  there  until  he  had  climbed  to  the 
nest  and  put  his  hand  on  one,  when  they  flew  out,  only  to 
return  before  he  had  reached  the  ground.  Minot  speaks 
of  a  Chickadee  that  slept  alone  in  winter  in  a 
Phoebe's  nest  under  his  veranda.  It  retires  to  its 
refuge  rather  early  at  night,  and  does  not  come 
out  until  the  Tree  Sparrow,  Song  Sparrow,  and 
Junco  are  abroad. 

Although  the  digestive  organs  of  the  Chickadee  are  not 
those  of  a  typical  seed  eater,  it  can  digest  and  assimilate 
seeds  at  need,  and  often  lives  to  a  considerable  extent  on 
the  seeds  of  the  birch.  Oats  are  sometimes  eaten  in  winter, 
but  they  are  taken  from  waste  grain  found  along  the  roads. 
The  fruit  of  the  common  sumacs,  bayberry,  and  poison 
sumac  are  also  eaten  ;  pieces  of  lichens  and  bud  scales  some- 
times form  a  portion  of  the  stomach  contents ;  but  the  food 
of  this  bird  is  preferably  of  an  animal  nature.  In  winter 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   167 

over  half  its  food  consists  of  insects,  and  in  spring  the  per- 
centage of  insect  food  often  runs  up  to  nearly  one  hundred. 
Among  the  pests  which  it  eats  are  the  tent  caterpillars  and 
their  eggs  ;  both  species  of  cankerworm  moths,  their  larvae, 
and  eggs  ;  codling  moths  with  their  larvae ;  the  forest  tent 
caterpillar  ;  and  the  larva,  chrys- 
alis, and  imago  of  the  gipsy  moth 
and  brown-tail  moth.  The  birch, 

willow,    and    apple    plant    lice    Or      Fig.  5O.  — Eggs  of  the  tent  cater- 
,  ,,  1  f         pillar  moth,  eaten  by  Chickadees. 

their  eggs  form  a  large  part  of 

the  Chickadee's  food  at  times.  The  eggs  are  eaten  mainly  in 
autumn  and  winter,  when  fixed  upon  the  twigs  of  trees.  Bark 
beetles,  so  destructive  to  many  species  of  fruit,  shade,  and 
forest  trees,  are  a  favorite  food  of  the  Chickadees.  Destruc- 
tive flea  beetles  also  are  eaten  by  them.  They  frequently 
inav  be  seen  tearing  open  spiders'  "  nests,"  and  eating  the  eggs 
or  young.  At  first  sight  this  appears  to  be  a  harmful  habit, 
as  spiders  are  supposed  to  be  useful ;  but  no  doubt  much 
destruction  of  spiders  is  needed  to  keep  them  within  normal 
bounds.  Let  any  one  go  out  into  the  fields  some  foggy 
summer  morning,  and  note  the  thousands  of  "  cobwebs "  on 
the  grass,  and  he  will  see  that  the  fields  are  "full  of  spiders." 
One  night  in  September,  1904,  I  slept  on  the  ground  upon 
a  hill  top  in  the  Concord  woods.  Early  in  the  night  it  rained 
a  little,  and  toward  morning  a  river  fog  rose.  At  daylight 
the  whole  country  appeared  to  be  covered  with  spiders' webs. 
They  hung  from  the  trees,  every  branch  was  ornamented 
with  them,  each  tuft  of  pine  needles  had  its  web,  long 
streamers  ran  from  tree  to  tree,  festoons  of  spiders'  webs 
hung  across  the  wood  roads.  The  shrubbery,  the  vines,  the 
grass,  all  were  enshrouded  in  dew-spangled  webs.  The 
work  of  a  million  spiders,  ordinarily  unnoticed,  had  become 
visible,  as  if  by  magic,  in  a  night.  It  was  plain  that  the 
woods  as  well  as  the  fields  were  spider-ridden.  At  other 
times  flights  of  migrating  spiders  are  wafted  on  the  air  by 
their  little  balloons  or  parachutes,  rising  high  and  crossing 
ponds  and  rivers.  Such  sights  as  these  suggest  what  might 
occur  were  not  spiders  held  in  check  by  birds.  When  we 
consider  the  vast  numbers  of  spiders  and  the  possibilities 


168  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


of  their  increase,  we  may  be  content  that  Chickadees  and 
other  birds  eat  them. 

Dr.  Weed,  who  has  studied  the  winter  food  of  the  Chick- 
adee, says  that  the  destruction  of  the  myriad  eggs  of  plant 
lice,  which  infest  fruit,  shade,  and  forest  trees,  is  probably 
the  most  important  service  which  the  Chickadee  ren- 
ders during  its  winter  residence.  More  than  four 
hundred  and  fifty  eggs  are  sometimes  eaten  by  one 
bird  in  a  single  day.  On  the  supposition  that  one 
hundred  were  eaten  daily  by  each  of  a  flock  of  ten 
Chickadees,  there  would  be  destroyed  one  thousand  a  day, 
or  one  hundred  thousand  during  the  days  of  winter,  by  ten 
birds  only, — a  number  which  he  believes  to  be  far  below 
the  real  condition,  could  we  determine  it  precisely.  Dr. 
Weed  has  found  in  Chickadees'  stomachs  a  carabid  beetle, 
a  snout  beetle,  a  leaf  hopper,  and  remains  of  what  appeared 
to  be  the  oyster-shell  bark  louse.  This  prying  bird  eats 
many  of  the  most  injurious  insects  that  might  escape  the 
observation  of  larger  birds.  The  cocoons  of  certain  micro- 
lepidoptera  that  hibernate  on  the  twigs  of  fruit  trees  are 
eagerly  sought  by  these  birds.  The  little  case-bearers  are 
greedily  eaten  by  them. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  Chickadee  feeds  on  borers  which  live 
under  the  bark,  on  plant  lice  which  suck  the  sap,  on  cater- 
pillars which  destroy  the  leaves,  and  on  the  cod- 
ling moth  which  injures  the  fruit.  It  even  digs 
into  decaying  twigs,  and  extracts  wood  borers. 
It  has  not  the  skill  of  the  Woodpecker  in  going  Fig.  si.-cod- 
directly  to  the  spot  where  the  borer  is  located,  »«« moth, par. 

J  '         entoftheapple 

but  it  finds  the  burrow,  and  pecks  and  chips  worm,  eaten  by 
away  the  decayed  wood  along  it  until  the  larva 
is  reached.  Undoubtedly  Chickadees  kill  many  of  the  de- 
structive white  pine  weevils  (Pissodes  strobi).  While  work- 
ing among  pine  trees  I  saw  several  Chickadees  go  to  infested 
shoots,  peck  them,  and  apparently  extract  the  larvae.  These 
dying  shoots  seemed  to  be  the  principal  attraction  which 
brought  them  to  the  pines. 

The  practical  value  of  the  Chickadee  to  the  orchardist  may 
be  inferred  from  the  results  of  the  experiment  referred  to  on 


SONG   BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       169 


p.  150,  in  which  an  attempt  was  made  to  foster  and  pro- 
tect the  birds  in  an  old  and  neglected  orchard,  with  a  view 
to  observing  the  effect  of  such  a  policy  upon  the  trees. 
The  Chickadees  were  at- 
tracted to  the  orchard  in 
winter,  and  were  seen 
destroying  thousands  of 

w         -\  &g.  ''.'''"•'•' rjlt't 

i,          %t//J$y' 


c   j-1        ^11  i 

eggs  01  the  lall  canker- 
worm  m  o  t  h  ,  and  many 
egg-bearing  females  as 
well.  A  few  of  the  birds 
were  killed,  and  their  stomachs  examined  for  evidence  cor- 
roborative of  our  observations.  The  following  notes  are 
taken  from  the  record  of  the  experiment,  as  published  in 
the  annual  report  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agri- 
culture for  1895  :  — 


Fig.  52.  —  Fall  cankerworm  moth:  a,  male 
moth;  b,  wingless  female  moth;  c,  d,  structural 
details. 


Eggs  of  the  fall  cankerAvorm  found  in  stomachs  of  Chickadees : — 


Bird  Xo.  1, 
Bird  Xo.  2, 


273 
261 


Bird  Xo.  3, 
Bird  Xo.  4, 


Eggs. 

216 

278 


Making  in  all  ten  hundred  and  twenty-eight  eggs  found  in  the  stomachs 
of  four  birds.  Four  birds  killed  later  in  the  season  had  eaten  the 
female  imagoes  of  the  spring  cankerworm  (Paleacrita  vernata),  as 
follows :  — 


Bird  Xo.  1, 
Bird  Xo.  2, 


Moths. 
41 

18 


Bird  Xo.  3, 
Bird  No.  4, 


Moths. 

27 


Making  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  five.  In  Xos.  2,  3,  and  4  of  the  last 
table  there  were  a  large  number  of  eggs  also.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
there  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  eggs  in  each  stomach,  in  addition  to 
the  female  moths  eaten. 


Fig.  53.  —  Apple  twig,  with  eggs  of  the  cankerworm  moth.    These  eggs  are  eaten  by 
the  Chickadee. 

Mr.  C.  E.  Bailey  carefully  counted  the  eggs  in  the  ovaries  of  twenty 
of  these  female  moths,  with  the  following  results :  — 


170  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Moth  No. 
Moth  No. 

It 

2, 

Eggs. 

.     158 
.     272 

Moth 
Moth 

No. 

No 

11, 
12, 

Eggs. 

.     Ill 
.         .     160 

Moth  No. 
Moth  No. 
Moth  No. 

3,       . 

4,       .         . 
5, 

.     127 
.     184 
.     213 

Moth 
Moth 
Moth 

No. 
No. 

No 

13,       . 
14, 

15, 

.     193 
.     131 

.     281 

Moth  No. 
Moth  No. 
Moth  No. 
Moth  No. 
Moth  No. 

6,       . 
7, 
8,       . 
9,       . 
10,       . 

.     135 

.     140 
.     220 
.     200 
.     130 

Moth 
Moth 
Motli 
Moth 
Moth 

No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 

16,       . 
17, 
18,       . 
19,       . 
20,       . 

.     242 
.     116 
.     281 
.     192 

.     217 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  table  that  the  average  number  of 
eggs  found  in  the  ovaries  of  each  moth  was  one  hundred  and 
eighty-five.  Mr.  Bailey  was  very  positive,  from  his  contin- 
uous field  observations,  that  each  Chickadee  would  devour  on 
the  average  thirty  female  cankerworm  moths  per  day  from 
the  20th  of  March  to  the  15th  of  April,  whenever  these  in- 
sects were  plentiful.  If  the  average  number  of  eggs  laid 
by  each  female  is  one  hundred  and  eighty-five,  one  Chick- 
adee would  thus  destroy  in  one  day  five  thousand,  five  hun- 
dred and  fifty  eggs ;  and  in  the  twenty-five  days  in  which 
the  cankerworm  moths  "run"  or  crawl  up  the  trees,  one 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  fifty. 
It  is  probable  that  some  of  the  moths  were  not  captured 
until  they  had  laid  some  of  their  eggs,  but  the  Chickadees 
found  and  ate  most  of  these  eggs  also.  When  we  consider, 
further,  that  forty-one  of  these  insects,  distended  as  they 
were  with  eggs,  were  found  packed  within  the  stomach  of 
one  Chickadee,  and  that  the  digestion  of  the  bird  is  so  rapid 
that  its  stomach  was  probably  filled  many  times  daily,  the 
estimate  made  by  Mr.  Bailey  seems  a  very  conservative  one. 

As  the  frost  left  the  ground  on  the  first  warm  days  of 
spring  the  wingless  females  of  the  spring  cankerworm  moth 
appeared  in  the  orchard  and  began  ascending  the  trees  in 
great  numbers.  The  Chickadees  commenced  catching  these 
insects  and  eating  them  and  their  eggs.  Mr.  Bailey  placed 
twenty-two  of  the  females  on  one  tree,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
twenty  of  them  were  captured  and  eaten  by  Chickadees.  As 
a  practical  result  of  the  presence  of  the  Chickadee  in  that 
orchard  during  the  winter,  there  were  so  few  eggs  of  the 
cankerworm  moths  left  in  the  spring  that,  as  heretofore 


SONG    BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       171 

stated,  the   summer  birds  were  able  to  destroy  the  worms 
resulting  from  them. 

In  early  spring  Chickadees  feed  much  upon  the  ground  in 
the  woods.  At  such  times  I  have  seen  them  opening  soft- 
ened acorns,  that  have  lain  all  winter  beneath  the  snow,  and 
extracting  grubs  from  them. 

The  Chickadee  is  not  known  to  have  any  harmful  habits. 
Wilson  says  that  it  has  been  known  to  attack  and  injure  its 
own  kind,  but  he  gives  no  positive  evidence  of  this,  and  I 
can  find  no  record  of  this  habit  elsewhere.  Their  fondness 
for  animal  food  leads  them  sometimes  to  eat  the  bodies  of 
other  birds  that  have  been  stuck  on  thorns  by  the  Butcher 
Bird,  or  to  feed  from  the  carcass  of  any  fox  or  other  animal 
left  hanging  in  the  woods  by  trappers.  This  habit  probably 
accounts  for  the  fact  that  feathers  or  hair  are  sometimes  found 
in  their  stomachs. 

One  mild  day  in  the  winter  of  1903-04  Mr.  Mosher  saw 
two  Chickadees  catching  a  few  bees  that  had  come  out  of  a 
hive  and  were  becoming  benumbed  by  the  cold.  This  was 
a  particularly  hard  winter,  during  which  many  birds  died  of 
starvation  and  exposure,  and  the  birds  were  doing  no  harm, 
as  the  bees,  once  away  from  the  hive,  would  never  have  been 
able  to  return  to  its  shelter.  The  Chickadee  is  not  known 
to  injure  grain  or  cultivated  fruit.  Occasionally  it  pecks  a 
frozen  apple  left  hanging  on  the  tree  in  winter,  but  I  can 
find  no  record  of  its  having  injured  fruit  at  any  other  time. 
It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  bird  more  harmless  or  more  useful 
than  this  species. 

White-breasted  Nuthatch. 

Silta  carolinensis. 

Length.  —  About  six  inches. 

Adult.  —  Upper  parts  a  rather  light  bluish-gray ;  crown,  nape  of  neck,  and  upper 
back  black ;  wings  and  tail  marked  somewhat  with  black  and  white ;  lower 
parts  and  sides  of  head  mainly  white. 

Nest.  —  In  an  old  post  or  an  excavation  in  a  tree  trunk,  which  is  sometimes  hol- 
lowed out  by  the  birds. 

Eggs.  —  Much  like  those  of  the  Chickadee,  but  larger. 

Season.  —  Resident. 

Most  writers  regard  this  common  and  familiar  species  as 
a  bird  of  the  forest ;  but  in  eastern  Massachusetts  it  has 


172  USEFUL   BIRDS. 

become  a  frequenter  of  orchard  and  shade  trees,  and  is  com- 
monly seen  along  village  streets  in  fall,  winter,  spring,  and 
sometimes  even  in  midsummer,  although  comparatively  few 

breed  in  the  State.  In 
the  fall  it  may  be  seen 
here  and  there  in  the 
woods  or  orchards,  often 
in  company  with  Chick- 
adees and  other  tree 
gleaners.  In  winter 
this  species  is  almost 

Fig.  54.  — White-breasted  Nuthatch,  two-thirds      always   engaged    during 
natural  size.  ,       ,.    ,,      .  -..,. 

daylight  in  a  diligent 

search  over  the  trunks  and  larger  limbs  of  trees,  particularly 
on  the  rough  bark  of  the  larger  trunks,  where  it  finds  a 
great  part  of  its  insect  food.  In  one  instance,  where  a 
workman  had  pared  off  most  of  the  outer  bark  from  a  large 
oak,  two  of  these  Nuthatches  were  seen  busily  engaged  for 
two  days  in  searching  and  delving  among  the  pile  of  bark 
chips  left  on  the  ground. 

This  Nuthatch  is  the  particular  guardian  of  the  deciduous 
trees,  preferring  the  oak,  chestnut,  elm,  and  other  hard- wood 
trees  to  the  pine.  It  also  frequents  old  orchards,  where  the 
rough  bark  affords  concealment  for  many  injurious  insects, 
and  offers  a  good  foothold.  It  is  a  cheerful  bird,  and  often 
manifests  much  curiosity.  It  will  sometimes  come  quite 
near  any  one  who  attracts  its  attention,  and,  hanging  head 
downward  on  trunk  or  limb,  utter  its  nasal  quank,  quank, 
—  a  peculiar,  weird  sound,  somewhat  like  the  quack  of  a 
duck,  but  higher  keyed  and  with  less  volume,  having  rather 
a  musical  twang. 

No  other  native  birds  are  so  often  seen  upside  down  as  are 
the  Nuthatches.  Audubon  and  Wilson  both  say  that  these 
birds  sleep  in  this  position.  In  winter  the  White-breast 
passes  the  night  in  some  cleft  or  hollow  in  a  tree  trunk. 
Dr.  G.  V.  Harvey  of  California  says  that  one  evening  he 
saw  twenty-nine  White-breasted  Nuthatches  come  singly  to 
an  old,  dead,  yellow  pine,  alight  upon  a  knot,  and  vanish  into 
a  large  crack  in  the  trunk.  They  came  at  quite  regular  in- 


SOXG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.    173 

tervals,  one  after  another,  and  evidently  used  the  cavity  as 
a  lodging  place,  for  that  night  at  least.1 

Even  the  Woodpeckers,  supplied  as  they  are  with  a  re- 
versed toe  and  a  stiff,  supporting  tail,  cannot  compete  with 
the  Nuthatches  in  descending  head  first.  The  Woodpecker 
when  going  down  the  trunk  finds  itself  in  the  same  pre- 
dicament as  the  bear,  —  its  climbing  tools  work  only  one 
way.  It  is  dependent  on  its  stiff  tail  for  support,  and  so 
must  needs  hop  down  backwards.  The  Creeper  is  still  more 
hide-bound  in  its  habits,  and  its  motto  seems  to  be  "Excel- 
sior." It  begins  at  the  foot  of  its  ladder  and  climbs  ever 
upward.  But  the  climbing  ability  of  the  Xuthatch  is  unlim- 
ited. It  circles  round  the  branches,  or  moves  up,  down, 
and  around  the  trunks,  apparently  oblivious  to  the  law  of 
gravitation.  Its  readiness  in  descending  topsy-turvy  is  due 
in  part  to  the  fact  that,  as  the 
quills  of  its  tail  are  not  stiff 
enough  to  afford  support,  it 
is  obliged  to  depend  upon  its 
legs  and  feet.  As  it  has  on 
each  foot  three  toes  in  front 
and  only  one  behind,  it  re- 
verses the  position  of  one 
foot  in  going  head  downward, 
throwing  it  out  sidewise  and 


backward,  so  that  the  three 
long  claws  on  the  three  front 
toes  grip  the  bark  and  keep 
the  bird  from  falling  forward . 


Fig.  55.  — Nuthatches. 


The  other  foot  is  thrown  forward,  and  thus  with  feet  far 
apart  the  "  little  gymnast  has  a  wide  base  beneath  him."  In 
the  third  volume  of  Reed's  American  Ornithology  Rev.  Lean- 
der  S.  Keyser  describes  and  illustrates  this  manner  of  pro- 
gression. The  Xuthatch  not  only  straddles  in  going  down 
the  tree,  but  spreads  its  legs  widely  in  going  round  the  trunk, 
as  will  be  seen  by  the  accompanying  cut,  sketched  from  life 
in  1895.  Mr.  William  Brewster  has  photographed  the  Red- 
breasted  Xuthatch  in  similar  positions,  but  bird  artists  gen- 


1  Reed's  American  Ornithology,  Vol.  2,  1902,  p.  171. 


174  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


erally  seem  to  have  overlooked  this  habit.  The  slightly 
upturned  bill  of  the  Nuthatch,  and  its  habit  of  hanging  up- 
side down,  give  it  an  advantage  when  in  the  act  of  prying 
off  scales  of  bark  under  which  many  noxious  insects  are 
secreted. 

The  food  of  this  bird  consists  very  largely  of  insects,  al- 
though it  is  capable  of  subsisting  on  seeds,  for  it  has  a  strong 
muscular  gizzard,  and  consumes  much  sand  or  gravel  for 
grinding  its  food.  In  winter,  when  it  is  difficult  to  find  suffi- 
cient insect  food,  the  Nuthatch  feeds  in  part  on  such  seeds  as 
it  can  pick  up.  Oats  and  corn  are  then  eaten  wherever  they 
can  be  found. 

Prof.  E.  Dwight  Sanderson,  who  examined  thirty-four 
stomachs  of  this  species  taken  in  Michigan,  found  many 
seeds,  among  them  ragweed  and  wild  sunflowers.  The  birds 
had  eaten  seeds  in  winter  to  the  amount  of  sixty-seven  and 
four-tenths  per  cent,  of  the  stomach  contents,  while  the  re- 
mainder consisted  of  gravel  and  insects  ;  but  in  early  spring 
only  thirteen  and  five-tenths  per  cent,  of  the  food  was  of  a 
vegetable  nature,  while  seventy-nine  and  five-tenths  per  cent, 
consisted  of  insects.  lie  found  Piesma  cineria  the  most 
common  noxious  insect  in  these  stomachs.  This  insect,  as  he 
remarks,  "  never  does  any  considerable  injury."  Its  frequent 
presence  in  the  stomach  of  the  Nuthatch  may  possibly  explain 
why  it  is  not  more  injurious.  Although  seven  orders  of 
insects  were  represented  in  these  stomachs,  Professor  Sander- 
son regards  the  birds  as  neutral,  for  no  first-class  pests  were 
recognized,  and  many  beneficial  and  neutral  insects  were 
found ;  but  we  have  seen  that  the  destruction  of  parasitic 
or  predaceous  insects  by  birds  is  not  necessarily  or  always 
an  injurious  habit ;  in  Massachusetts  several  pests  are  eaten 
by  the  Nuthatch,  and  we  have  not  yet  recognized  in  their 
stomachs  any  large  proportion  of  beneficial  insects.  This 
suggests  the  possibility  that  the  conditions  in  Michigan,  when 
the  examinations  were  made  by  Professor  Sanderson,  were 
unusual.  He  notes  that  he  was  unable  to  obtain  a  specimen 
from  any  orchard  infested  with  insect  pests.1 


1  The  Economic  Value  of  the  White-bellied  Nuthatch  and  the  Black-capped 
Chickadee,  by  E.  Dwight  Sanderson.    The  Auk,  Vol.  XV.,  1898,  pp.  145-150. 


SONG   BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       175 


Professor  King  in  Wisconsin  found  beetles,  including 
snap  beetles  and  boring  beetles,  in  the  stomachs  of  fourteen 
birds  of  the  species.  In  Massachusetts  it  feeds  largely  on 
beetles,  taking  many  that  bore  in  the  bark  or  wood.  It  also 
feeds  on  the  eggs  of  insects,  and  on  hibernating  larvae  and 
ants.  Scale  insects  are  taken 
in  winter.  The  oyster-shell 
bark  scale  louse  (Lepidosa- 
phes  uhni),  injurious  to  the 
apple,  pear,  currant,  and 
other  useful  plants  and  trees, 
is  eaten  greedily.  The  pro- 
portion of  insect  food  in- 
creases as  spring  advances, 
and  the  young  are  fed  largely 
if  not  entirely  on  insects. 
On  Nov.  26,  1897,  Mr.  Kirk- 
land  examined  the  stomach 
of  one  of  these  birds,  which  contained  one  thousand,  six 
hundred  and  twenty-nine  eggs  of  the  fall  cankerworm  moth. 
As  there  were  no  moth  remains,  it  was  evident  that  the  bird 
had  gathered  these  eggs  from  the  bark. 

One  day  Mr.  Bailey  watched  a  pair  of  these  Nuthatches 
in  Brookline.  The  birds  went  regularly  from  tree  to  tree, 
searching  beneath  the  burlap  bands  for  gipsy  caterpillars, 
which  for  several  hours  they  carried  continually  and  fed  to 
their  full-fledged  young.  The  young  birds  also  found  and 
killed  a  few.  The  preference  shown  by  these  particular  birds 
for  the  hairv  gipsy  caterpillars  at  this  place  seems  remark- 
able, as  there  were  comparatively  few  of  these  larvse  to  be 
found  there  at  the  time. 

This  Nuthatch  has  been  seen  to  eat  cankerworms,  forest 
caterpillars,  and  plant  lice,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  ordi- 
narily it  is  a  valuable  species  while  here. 


Fig.  56.  — Wood-boring  beetle,  much  en- 
larged.   Nuthatches  eat  such  beetles. 


176  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Red-breasted   Nuthatch.     Canada   Nuthatch. 

Sitta  canadensis. 

Length.  —  Four  and  one-half  to  nearly  five  inches. 
Adult  Male.  —  Above,  deep,  bright  bluish-gray;  chin  and  throat  whitish;  other 

lower  parts  rusty  or  deep  buff ;  tail  feathers  marked  with  black  and  white ; 

a  white  stripe  above  the  eye,  a  broad  black  stripe  through  the  eye,  and  a 

black  crown. 
Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  but  duller ;  the  eye  stripe  dusky,  and  the  crown  lighter 

than  that  of  the  male. 

Nest  and  Eggs.  — Much  like  those  of  the  Chickadee. 
Season.  —  Resident,  but  local  in  the  breeding  season. 

This  dainty  little  bird  is  considered  rare  in  Massachusetts 
in  the  breeding  season.  While  a  few  nest  in  suitable  local- 
ities, the  great  majority  retire  to  the  northern  wilderness 

in    summer.      From    Octo- 
ber to  April,  however,  it  is 
quite  common  in  this  State 
during  some  seasons.    It  per- 
forms for  the  pines  a  similar 
service  to  that  rendered  by  its 
larger  relative  among  the  decid- 
uous trees.    It  is  almost  constantly 
found  in  pine  woods,  and  seems  par- 
ticularly fond  of  the  pitch  pine  (Pinus 

Fig.    5 7 .— Red-breasted  J 

X  uthatch,  one-half  natural       rigidd  )  . 

The  common  notes  of  the  bird  are 

not  unlike  those  of  the  White-breasted  Nuthatch,  but  higher, 
sharper,  and  quicker.  It  has  also  a  musical  varied  twitter, 
not  mentioned  in  books,  so  far  as  I  know,  which  can  be  heard 
but  a  few  feet  away. 

It  runs  about  much  in  the  manner  of  the  White-breasted 
Nuthatch,  but  is  perhaps  oftener  seen  beneath  a  limb.  It 
sometimes  feeds  nearer  the  ends  of  the  branches  in  winter, 
perhaps  because  it  more  commonly  extracts  the  seeds  from 
pine  cones.  It  picks  up  corn  wherever  it  can  be  found  in 
Avinter,  and  I  have  watched  it  hiding  the  kernels  behind 
scales  of  bark  on  the  pitch  pine, — a  habit  common  to  both 
Nuthatches  and  Titmice.  A  large  majority  of  these  birds 
go  farther  south  than  Massachusetts  in  winter,  but  many  re- 
main wherever  they  can  find  pine  seed,  suitable  insect  food, 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   Ill 

and  safe  shelter.  They  are  seen  more  in  woods  and  less 
about  orchards  than  is  the  preceding  species,  and,  though 
probably  very  useful  in  the  pine  woods,  they  are  not  of  so 
much  value  in  orchards,  unless  attracted  there  by  artificial 
means. 

CREEPERS. 

This  family  of  bark -climbing  specialists  has  but  one  rep- 
resentative in  Massachusetts.  The  Creepers  climb  upward 
and  flv  downward. 

American    Brown    Creeper. 

Certhia  familiaris  americana. 

Length. — About  five  and  one-third  inches. 

Adult.  —  Sepia-brown  above,  varying  in  intensity,  finely  marked  with  whitish; 

under  parts  white. 

Xest.  —  Usually  built  behind  some  loose  flake  of  bark  or  in  a  cleft  in  a  tree  trunk. 
Eggs.  —  Grayish-white,  nearly  oval,  and  sparingly  sprinkled  with  brown  spots, 

chiefly  at  larger  end. 
Season.  —  Resident,  but  local  in  summer. 

This  is  a  modest,  quiet,  and  unobtrusive  species.  Its 
curved  bill  and  long,  rigid  tail  distinguish  it  from  all  other 
birds.  It  is  quite  common  in  Massachusetts  in  fall  and 
spring,  less  so  in  winter,  and  rather  rare  in  sum- 
mer. Most  individuals  of  this  species  that  do  not 
go  farther  north  to  breed  retire  in  spring  to 
dark,  cool  cedar  swamps,  where  they  nest. 

The  usual  note  of  this  bird  is  a  thin 
screep,  suggesting  that  of  the  Golden- 
crowned  Kinglet,  often  repeated  twice 
or  more.     It  has  also  a  fine  cJiip,  and 
in  summer  a  sweet,  wild,  indescribable 
song.     The  Creeper  is  pre-eminently 
a  bird  of  the  forest.     Everywhere  in 
great  tracts  of  woods  it  may  be  found 
laboring  day  after  day  to  surmount  one  Fl*'  5  ^"^71^  Creeper> 
giant  trunk  after  another,  only  to  fly 

down  to  the  foot  of  still  another,  that  it  may  climb  again. 
In  the  tall,  dark  forests  of  fir,  pine,  and  cedar  on  the  Pacific 
slope  of  the  Cascade  Mountains  the  Creeper's  chirp  is  one 
of  the  few  characteristic  bird  notes  that  come  down  to  the 


178  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


wanderer  from  the  dizzy  heights  of  those  towering  trunks. 
In  the  pine  woods  of  New  England  or  Canada  the  Creeper 
ever  goes  its  ceaseless  rounds.  It  is  a  guardian  of  the 
tree  trunk.  It  is  not  very  often  seen  among  the  branches, 
although  it  sometimes  feeds  on  the  seed  of  the  pine. 

The  Creeper  feeds  very  largely  on  insects,  which  it  finds 
on  the  bark  or  extracts  from  the  cracks  and  crevices  with  its 
long,  sharp  bill.  I  have  often  tried  to  determine  by  obser- 
vation the  food  of  this  bird,  but  can  only  say  that  it  seems 
to  find  boring  grubs  and  the  pupse  and  eggs  of  insects. 
In  this  quest  it  examines  a  large  number  of  trees  daily.  Mr. 
Bailey  spent  an  hour  watching  one  of  these  birds  on  March  30, 
1899.  It  inspected  forty-three  trees,  beginning  about  two 
feet  from  the  ground,  or  at  just  about  the  height  to  which 
the  ground-frequenting  birds  would  reach.  Thirty-six  trees 
were  white  oak  and  seven  white  pine.  It  went  up  each  tree 
about  twenty  feet,  going  round  and  round  the  trunk,  then 
flew  to  another.  It  appeared  to  prefer  the  white  oak  to  any 
other  tree,  probably  because  the  oaks  in  that  localitv  were 
infested  with  numerous  insects.  It  progressed  in  this  man- 
ner about  one  hundred  yards  within  the  hour.  At  night  a 
Creeper,  probably  the  same  bird,  was  still  in  the  near-by 
woods.  We  have  little  accurate  knowledge  of  the  food  of 
this  bird.  The  only  precise  determination  of  its  food  that 
has  come  to  my  notice  is  recorded  by  Dr.  Judd  in  Maryland. 
The  stomach  contained  such  beetles  as  Helops  acreus  and 
Bruchus  hibisci;  also  sawflies,  ants,  spiders,  and  seeds  of 
scrub  pine. 

THRASHERS    AND    MOCKINGBIRDS. 

This  group  is  represented  here  by  the  Thrasher  and  Cat- 
bird. Both  are  birds  of  the  thicket,  and  are  found  habitu- 
ally in  sprout  growth  or  young  coppice,  and  in  shrubbery 
on  the  borders  of  woods.  They  feed  largely  on  or  near  the 
ground  and  in  shrubbery,  but  often  make  excursions  into 
woods,  pastures,  fields,  or  gardens. 


SONG    BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.         179 


Brown  Thrasher.     Brown  Thrush.     Red  Mavis.     Planting  Bird. 
Toxostoma  rufurn. 

Length.  —  Nearly  eleven  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult.  —  Reddish-brown  above,  with  white  wing  bars;  below,  mainly  white; 

breast,  belly,  and  sides  of  throat  streaked  or  spotted  with  blackish. 
Xest.  —  Loosely  built  of  twigs,  etc.,  on  the  ground  or  in  a  brush  pile  or  low  bush. 
Eggs.  —  As  large  as  the  Robin's;  white  or  greenish,  thickly  spotted  with  light 

reddish-brown. 
Season.  —  April  to  October. 

This  bird  may  be  distinguished  from  the  true  Thrushes  by 
its  large  size,  long  tail,  and  long,  curved  beak.  It  arrives  in 
Massachusetts  the  latter  part  of  April,  and  leaves  for  the  south 
in  October.  Its  rich,  bold,  and  varied  song  may  be  heard 
along  the  borders  of  woodland,  in  coppice  growth,  or  from 
some  tall  tree  about  the  farmyard  or  pasture. 

The  song  was  first  brought  prominently  to  my  attention 
when  as  a  Ijarefoot  boy  of  ten  I  was  dropping  corn  in  the  field 
at  planting  time.  The  Thrasher  sat  in  a  tree  near  the  corn- 
field, its  swelling  throat  pouring  forth  a  flood  of  music  on 
the  warm  May  wind.  Just  over  the  wall  in  the  adjoining 
field  a  dusty  plowman  stopped  his  team.  "There,  boy,"  he 
said,  "that  is  the  Planting  Bird.  Some  folks  call  it  the  Red 
Mavis.  Hear  him  sing,  '  Drop  it,  drop  it,  drop  it ;  cover  it 
up,  cover  it  up,  cover  it  up  ;  I'll  pull  it  up,  I'll  pull  it  up.' " 
Both  words  and  song  made  so  strong  an  impression  on  my 
youthful  mind  that  they  have  never  been  effaced  from  my 
memory.  Later  we  found  that  the  Thrasher  had  kept  his 
promise,  and  pulled  up  some  of  the  corn  that  we  had  planted. 

This  is  the  only  really  harmful  habit  of  this  bird,  and  this 
seems  to  be  more  local  than  general ;  for,  while  it  pulls  a 
little  corn  on  some  farms,  there  is  no  complaint  from  it  else- 
where. Thoreau  reports  a  similar  phrasing  of  the  Thrasher's 
song,  but  omits  every  reference  to  the  bird  as  a  corn  puller, 
giving  the  last  part  of  the  song  as  "Pull  it  up."  He  also 
mentions  the  common  name  Mavis,  by  which  I  think  the  bird  is 
now  known  only  among  the  older  people.  This  name  is  prob- 
ably of  European  origin,  and  came  down  to  us  from  the  early 
settlers ;  but  the  bird  is  still  known  among  farmers  in  some 
sections  of  the  State  as  the  Planting  Bird  or  Brown  Thrush. 


180 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Its  alarm  note  is  a  loud  smack  or  chick,  very  incisive,  and 
frequently  followed  by  a  mournful  whistle.  It  also  makes  a 
hissing  or  wheezing  sound,  which  is  often  heard  when  it  is 
defending  its  young. 


Fig.  59.  —  Brown  Thrasher,  one-half  natural  size. 

The  Brown  Thrasher  feeds  largely  on  insects.  As  it 
usually  retires  during  the  breeding  season  to  scrubby  lands 
or  sprout  growth  near  woodland,  it  takes  very  little  culti- 
vated fruit,  and  the  small  amount  of  corn  it  consumes  is 
usually  more  than  made  up  for  by  the  white  grubs  taken  from 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   181 

woodland,  cornfield,  and  garden.  Dr.  Judd  gives  a  sum- 
mary of  the  results  of  an  examination  of  the  stomachs  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty-one  of  this  species  ;  thirty-six  per  cent, 
of  the  food  was  vegetable,  and  sixty-four  per  cent,  was  ani- 
mal, which  was  practically  all  insects,  mostly  taken  in  spring, 
when  no  fruit  was  ripe.  Half  the  insects  were  beetles, 
mainly  harmful  species.  The  remaining  animal  food  was 
chiefly  grasshoppers,  caterpillars,  bugs,  and  spiders. 

The  Brown  Thrasher  more  than  repays  us  for  the  cultivated 
fruit  that  it  eats  by  the  number  of  insect  pests  that  it  con- 
sumes earlier  in  the  season.  While  it  eats  considerable  wild 
fruit  and  some  that  is  useful  to  man,  it  probably  pays  for 
this  by  destroying  many  of  the  disgusting  bugs  that  eat 
berries.  As  the  Thrasher  feeds  much  on  the  ground,  it 
destroys  many  grasshoppers,  crickets,  white  grubs,  and  May 
beetles.  Professor  Forbes  states  that  in  Illinois  nearly  half 
the  food  of  this  bird  consists  of  waste  grain  picked  from 
the  droppings  on  the  roads.  He  also  asserts  that  it  eats 
cultivated  fruit  in  less  proportion  than  do  other  Thrushes. 
There,  as  here,  June  beetles  form  a  considerable  per  cent,  of 
its  food,  and  it  eats  both  snap  beetles  and  curculios.  The 
Thrasher  eats  caterpillars,  but  mainly  such  species  as  are 
found  on  the  ground.  It  picks  up  cutworms,  cankerworms, 
and  some  gipsy  moth  caterpillars,  but  is  not  usually  fond  of 
hairy  caterpillars.  On  the  whole,  it  is  a  bird  that  should  be 
protected  by  the  farmer. 

Catbird. 
Galeoscoples  carolinensis. 

Length.  —  About  nine  inches. 

Adult.  —  Both  upper  and  under  parts  dark  gray;  top  of  head  and  tail  blackish; 

under  tail  coverts  chestnut. 
Nest.  —  Composed  of  sticks  and  twigs,  bark  and  rootlets,  placed  in  a  bush  or 

vine. 

Eggs.  —  Dark,  glossy,  greenish-blue. 
Season.  —  May  to  October. 

The  Catbird  is  very  common  in  this  State.  Its  voluble 
manner,  cat-like  cry,  musical  song,  habits  of  mimicry,  and 
bravery  in  defence  of  its  young  are  all  too  well  known 
to  need  description.  As  an  imitator,  it  is  second  only  to 
the  Mockingbird.  I  have  heard  the  cry  of  the  Bob-white  or 


182 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Quail  and  some  of  the  notes  of  the  Wood  Thrush,  together 
with  those  of  many  other  birds,  given  by  the  Catbird.  It 
may  not  be  generally  known  that  this  bird,  like  many  other 
species,  often  sings  in  a  very  low  tone  when  it  believes  that 
danger  is  near.  In  October  it  sometimes  repeats  its  spring 


Pig.  6O.  —  Catbird,  one-half  natural  size. 

song  so  softly  that  it  seems  to  come  from  far  away  when 
uttered  within  a  few  feet  of  the  hearer.  The  bird's  moods 
arc  many.  It  is  in  turn  a  merry  jester,  a  fine  musician,  a 
mocking  sprite,  and  a  screaming  termagant,  but  always  an 
interesting  study,  and  never  prosaic  or  mediocre. 

Xo  doubt  the  Catbird  is  useful,  as  it  fills,  in  moist  thickets, 
a  place  similar  to  that  taken  by  its  relative  the  Thrasher  on 
the  drier  lands.  Unfortunately,  however,  the  poor  bird  has 
acquired  a  bad  reputation.  It  is  accused  of  sucking  the  eggs 
of  other  birds  and  destroying  much  fruit.  The  first  charge 
must  be  dismissed  as  not  proven,  but  the  second  is  sustained 
by  good  evidence.  Dr.  Judd  reports  on  the  examination  of 
two  hundred  and  thirteen  stomachs,  from  Florida  to  Kansas 
and  Massachusetts.  He  finds  that  three  per  cent,  of  the  food 
consists  of  carnivorous  wasps  and  bees ;  spiders  are  also 
eaten  ;  but  the  destruction  of  useful  insects  is  more  than 
made  up  for  by  the  number  of  weevils,  plant-feeding  bugs, 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   183 

May  beetles,  and  other  injurious  species  taken.  The  de- 
struction of  the  ground  beetles  eaten  by  the  Catbird  is  prob- 
ably at  the  worst  a  necessary  evil.  It  eats  many  caterpillars, 
including  cutworms,  also  grasshoppers  and  crickets.  Ants 
and  crane  flies  formed  a  large  proportion  of  the  insect  food  of 
some  Catbirds  dissected  by  Professor  Forbes,  who  says,  how- 
ever, that  in  midsummer  the  Catbird  subsists  mainly  on  fruit, 
and  only  takes  such  insects  as  come  its  way.  Young  Cat- 
birds while  in  the  nest  are  fed  very  largely  on  insect  food. 
Dr.  Weed  examined  the  stomach  contents  of  three  nestling 
Catbirds  in  Michigan,  and  found  that  ninety -five  per  cent, 
of  the  food  consisted  of  insects,  two  per  cent,  of  spiders, 
and  three  per  cent,  of  myriapods.  Sixty-two  per  cent,  of 
this  food  was  composed  of  cutworms,  eleven  per  cent,  of 
ground  beetles,  four  per  cent,  of  grasshoppers,  three  per 
cent,  of  May  flies  and  two  per  cent,  of  dragon  flies.  Dr. 
Judd  also  found  that  the  nestlings  were  fed  almost  entirely 
on  insects.  All  these  statements  go  to  prove  the  value  of 
the  Catbird  on  the  farm. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  adult  Catbird  often  lives  so  largely 
on  cultivated  fruit  in  midsummer  that  were  its  numbers 
greatly  increased  it  might  become  an  unbearable  pest  to  the 
fruit  grower.  Its  destructiveness  to  small  fruits  varies,  how- 
ever, in  different  localities.  Sometimes  the  Catbird  will 
leave  its  favorite  thickets  and  build  its  nest  in  the  raspberry 
or  blackberry  bushes,  or  among  the  grapevines  in  the  garden. 
A  pair  of  these  birds  that  occupied  a  nest  in  our  garden  at 
Worcester  where  they  were  surrounded  by  fruit  did  no  injury 
compared  with  that  inflicted  by  a  pair  of  Catbirds  that  nested 
in  the  shrubbery  near  our  garden  at  Wareham.  There  I 
found  that  the  Catbirds  came  to  the  garden  mainly  for  straw- 
berries. They  chose  the  best  fruit,  and  seemed  to  live  on 
that  alone  during  the  strawberry  season.  The  Catbirds  ate 
more  fruit  than  the  Robins,  although  the  latter  were  far  more 
numerous,  and,  as  is  usually  the  case,  were  blamed  at  first 
for  the  loss  of  all  the  fruit. 

While  the  Catbird  is  often  a  pest  to  the  fruit  garden,  eat- 
ing, as  it  does,  most  small  fruits,  it  is  so  useful  in  case  of 
insect  outbreaks  that  it  deserves  protection.  Five  Catbirds 


184  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


dissected  by  Professor  Aughey  during  a  locust  irruption  had 
eaten  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  locusts.  When  injurious 
caterpillars  are  numerous,  the  Catbird  attacks  them.  Its 
name  appears  in  the  list  of  birds  which  feed  on  brown-tail 
and  gipsy  caterpillars,  cankerworms,  forest  caterpillars,  and 
tent  caterpillars.  It  also  feeds  its  young  on  the  hairy  cater- 
pillars of  the  gipsy  moth  and  the  brown-tail  moth,  and  on 
many  of  the  imagoes  as  well  as  those  of  native  noctuids. 
I  have  frequently  observed  this  habit.  A  Catbird  used  to 
come  to  my  window  early  in  the  morning  to  get  the  cut- 
worm moths  that  had  flown  against  the  screen  in  the  night. 
Mr.  F.  H.  Mosher  watched  two  pairs  of  Catbirds  and  their 
young  in  1895,  and  found  that  the  young  were  fed  very 
largely  on  gipsy  caterpillars.  He  says  :  — 

The  Catbird  when  feeding  is  most  busy  in  the  morning  until  about 
8.40.  From  that  time  she  comes  occasionally  until  from  3  to  4  o'clock, 
when  she  is  more  active  again.  In  the  morning  she  would  come  and 
eat  two  or  three  herself,  and  then  carry  one  to  her  young.  She  would 
be  absent  about  five  minutes.  After  she  had  made  two  or  three  trips 
she  would  not  stop  to  eat  any  herself.  In  the  afternoon,  during  her 
period  of  greatest  activity,  she  would  make  trips  about  every  ten  minutes. 
She  seemed  to  prefer  larvae  to  pupae,  but  when  hard  pressed  would  take 
pupte.  The  size  of  the  larvae  seemed  to  make  no  difference  to  her,  as 
she  took  the  full-grown  just  as  readily  as  the  small. 

Mr.  Mosher  thought  in  1895  that  the  Catbird  was,  next  to 
the  Cuckoos  and  Orioles,  the  most  important  enemy  of  the 
gipsy  moth.  These  three  species  alone  would  be  enough, 
if  in  sufficient  numbers,  to  check  this  insect  in  the  localities 
which  they  frequent.  The  Catbird  forages  mainly  on  the 
ground  and  in  shrubbery,  but  seldom  in  trees.  The  Cuckoos 
feed  mainly  among  the  l(wer  branches,  while  the  Orioles  go 
up  even  to  the  topmost  twigs. 

From  the  evidence  at  hand  we  must  conclude  that,  though 
the  Catbird  is  sometimes  a  nuisance  to  the  fruit  grower,  it 
must  be  tolerated  and  even  encouraged  for  the  good  it  does. 
The  problem  before  us  is  not  how  to  destroy  the  birds,  but 
how  to  keep  both  birds  and  fruit. 


SONG  BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.         185 


WARBLERS. 

Of  the  twenty-five  species  and  two  sub-species  of  AVar- 
blers  that  may  be  confidently  looked  for  each  spring  in 
Massachusetts,  either  as  migrants  or  residents,  only  eight 
are  generally  distributed  throughout  the  State  in  the  breed- 
ing season,  and  two  of  these  are  rather  local.  Several  other 
species  breed  here,  but  only  locally  or  rarely.  Only  the 
more  common  familiar  summer  resident  species,  which  are 
of  great  economic  importance,  will  be  mentioned  here.  The 
migrants  are  of  great  though  lesser  importance.  Their 
abundance  in  migration  is  probably  governed  largely  by 
the  number  of  insects  to  be  found  upon  the  trees.  When- 
ever large  numbers  of  Warblers  are  seen  here  in  migration, 
their  presence  may  be  taken  as  an  indication  of  a  plenti- 
ful supply  of  the  arboreal  insects  on  which  chiefly  they 
feed.  The  fact  that  Warblers  live  mostly  on  small  insects 
does  not  lessen  their  usefulness, — it  may  even  make  them 
more  valuable.  Warblers  are  undoubtedly  responsible  for 
the  destruction  of  many  of  the  young  caterpillars  of  the 
great  cecropia,  promethea,  and  luna  moths,  which,  while 
still  too  small  to  do  any  harm,  are  killed  off  by  birds.  It 
should  be  noted  also  that  many  of  the  greatest  pests  are  very 
small  even  at  maturity.  The  onion  fly,  the  Hessian  fly,  the 
wheat  midge,  and  many  injurious  Lepidoptera  and  Cole- 
optera  are  among  the  tiny  insects  that  are  eaten  by  small 
birds.  Only  the  smaller  birds  can  follow  insects  to  the  tips 
of  the  slenderest  twigs  ;  therefore,  the  smaller  the  bird  the 
greater  its  special  usefulness. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Warblers  have  a  great  capacity 
for  destroying  small  insects.  In  migration  they  seem  to 
possess  most  remarkable  appetites.  Rev.  Leander  S.  Keyser 
watched  a  Hooded  Warbler,  and  found  that  it  caught  on  the 
average  two  insects  a  minute,  or  one  hundred  and  twenty  an 
hour.  He  estimates  that  at  this  rate  the  bird  would  kill  at 
least  nine  hundred  and  sixty  insects  a  day,  assuming  that  it 
sought  them  but  eight  hours.1 

1  Papers  presented  at  the  World's  Congress  on  Ornithology,  1896,  pp.  41,  42. 


186  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Mr.  Robert  H.  Coleman,  in  a,  letter  to  the  Biological  Sur- 
vey, stated,  according  to  Dr.  Judd,  that  he  counted  the 
number  of  insects  eaten  by  a  Palm  Warbler,  and  found  that 
it  varied  from  forty  to  sixty  per  minute.  The  bird,  he 
said,  spent  at  least  four  hours  on  his  piazza,  and  in  that  time 
must  have  eaten  about  nine  thousand,  five  hundred  insects. 

I  have  seen  Warblers  eating  from  masses  of  small  insects 
at  such  a  rate  that  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  count  the 
number  of  insects  eaten.  When  larger  insects  are  taken, 
the  time  given  to  each  increases.  The  bird  will  sometimes 
spend  at  least  ten  minutes  in  the  attempt  to  swallow  a 
large  caterpillar.  It  is  difficult,  therefore,  to  approximate  the 
number  of  insects  eaten  by  a  Warbler  in  a  day,  except  where 
it  is  feeding  mainly  on  a  particular  species. 

In  this  family  we  find  birds  that  assume  the  care  of  the 
trees  from  the  ground  to  the  topmost  twig.  Some  walk 
daintily  along  the  ground,  searching  among  the  shrubbery 
and  fallen  leaves ;  others  cling  close  to  the  bark,  and  search 
its  every  crevice  for  those  insignificant  insects  which  collect- 
ively form  the  greatest  pests  of  forest  and  orchard  ;  others 
mount  into  the  tree,  skip  from  branch  to  branch,  and  peer 
about  among  the  leaves  or  search  the  opening  buds  of  the 
lower  branches ;  others  habitually  ascend  to  the  tree  tops  ; 
while  still  others  are  in  almost  constant  pursuit  of  the  winged 
insects  that  dart  about  among  the  branches.  We  will  first 
consider  the  common  ground-frequenting  species. 

Northern  Yellow-throat.     Maryland    Yellow-throat. 

Oeothlypis  Irichas  brachidaclyla. 
Length.  —  About  five  and  one-quarter  inches. 
Adult  Male.  —  Upper  parts  olive-green ;  forehead  and  mask  black,  bordered  above 

by  ashy-gray ;  under  parts  mainly  bright  yellow. 

Adult  Female.  —  Like  the  male,  but  without  the  black  or  ashy ;  under  parts  paler. 
Nest.  —  On  or  near  the  ground,  supported  by  grass  stems,  leafy  plants,  or  shrubs ; 

deep,  and  composed  mainly  of  leaves  and  grasses ;  sometimes  roofed,  and 

not  infrequently  hair-lined. 

Eggs.  —  White,  spotted  with  brown  and  lilac  at  the  larger  end. 
Season.  —  May  to  October. 

This  Yellow-throat  is  a  bird  of  the  brookside  and  swampy 
thicket ;  but  it  is  not  by  any  means  confined  to  these  locali- 
ties, for  it  is  found  in  the  fruit  garden  and  orchard  as  well  as 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   187 

in  the  woods.  While  it  feeds  somewhat  in  trees,  its  habit, 
like  that  of  other  Warblers  of  the  genus,  is  to  keep  near  the 
ground  and  in  shrubbery  ;  hence  it  is  often  seen  along  bushy 
roadsides,  particularly  where  the  road  crosses  a  swamp  or 
stream.  It  usually  keeps  close  to  the  underbrush,  peering 
out  from  between  leaves  and  stems, 
and  occasionally  taking  short  flights 
near  the  ground. 

It  greets  all  comers  with  a  sharp 
chirp,  or  voices   its  alarm  in  a  rat- 
tling, Wren-like  chatter.     In  singing 
it  sometimes  mounts  to  a  high  perch     Fig  61  _Northern 
in  a  tree  or  rises  in  air,  but  ordinarily       throat,   two-thirds  natural 

i    ,.  .,  ,  .,  .          .  *  size. 

delivers  its  song  while  pursuing  its 

usual  avocations  among  the  shrubbery.  The  song  is  a 
series  of  phrases,  with  the  accent  on  the  first  syllable,  thus, 
sich'-a-ici'/gle,  sich'-a-wiggle,  sich'-a-ii'iggle,  or  in  some  cases 
u'itchery,  u'itcliery,  witchery.  It  is  much  varied  in  length 
and  expression,  but  usually  may  be  known  by  the  repeti- 
tion of  the  strongly  accented  syllable.  Like  many  other 
Warblers,  this  bird  has  three  or  more  variations  to  its  strain, 
but  with  perhaps  one  exception  they  are  all  unmistakable. 

The  Yellow-throat  usually  arrives  at  its  chosen  haunts  in 
Massachusetts  early  in  May.  It  often  lays  two  sets  of  eggs, 
and  two  broods  are  sometimes  reared.  In  the  fall  flights 
the  birds  may  be  seen  from  time  to  time  as  they  stop  on 
their  journe}r  southward.  One  day  you  will  find  scarcely 
one  ;  the  next,  the  brooksides  and  river  banks  may  be  alive 
with  them.  This  bird  is  undoubtedly  among  the  most  use- 
ful species  which  in  summer  frequent  our  shrubbery,  wood- 
lands, orchards,  roadsides,  and  bushy  pastures.  In  pastures 
the  Yellow-throat  eats  many  leaf  hoppers,  which  are  abun- 
dant among  the  grass  and  low-growing  herbage  that  it  fre- 
quents. Prof.  Herbert  Osborn  has  shown  that  on  an  acre  of 
pasture  land  there  frequently  exist  a  million  leaf  hoppers, 
which  consume,  perhaps  unnoticed,  as  much  grass  as  a  cow, 
if  not  more.  The  Yellow-throat,  on  account  of  its  destruc- 
tion of  leaf  hoppers  and  grasshoppers,  may  be  ranked  among 
the  useful  birds  of  the  fields.  In  orchards  it  often  feeds  very 


188  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


largely  on  cankerworms,  going  long  distances  from  its  nest 
to  get  these  caterpillars  to  feed  to  its  young.  Since  one  of 
these  birds  was  seen  to  eat  fifty-two  caterpillars  of  the  gipsy 
moth  in  a  few  minutes,  it  seems  probable  that  it  may  yet  be 
ranked  among  the  efficient  enemies  of  this  pest.  Case  bear- 
ers, leaf  rollers,  and  many  other  destructive  caterpillars  are 
greedily  devoured,  and  it  also  catches  and  eats  both  butter- 
flies and  moths  in  considerable  numbers. 

Along  the  borders  of  woods  it  is  very  destructive  to  many 
beetles,  flies,  and  especially  to  plant  lice,  of  some  species 
of  which  it  is  very  fond.  It  often  goes  to  grain  fields, 
where,  so  Wilson  says,  it  eats  insects  that  infest  them. 

Oven-bird.     Golden-crowned   Thrush.     "  Teacher   Bird." 
Seiurus  aurocapilhis. 

Length.  —  Six  to  six  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult.  —  Olive-brown  above;  crown  dull  orange  or  yellowish-buff,  bordered  by 

black  stripes ;  white  below ;  breast  and  sides  streaked  with  blackish. 
Nest.  —  On  the  ground  in  woods,  often  on  knoll  or  hillside;  generally  roofed, 

with  entrance  on  lower  side ;  usually  made  of  sticks,  rootlets,  leaves,  etc., 

and  lined  with  hairs ;  that  from  which  the  accompanying  cut  was  made 

was  built  entirely  of  pine  leaves  or  "  needles." 
Eggs.  —  Creamy  white,  spotted  with  brown  and  faint  lilac. 
Season.  —  May  to  September. 

How  well  I  still  recall  that  panorama  of  the  dim  woods 
that  passed  before  my  eyes  when  as  a  child  of  eight  years  I 
first  began  to  wander  off  at  daybreak  to  learn  the  secrets  of 
nature.  As  I  first  stole  through  the  shadows  down  the 
back  of  "  Muddy  Pond  Hill,"  where  the  "cotton-tail  rabbit " 
bounded  away  before  me,  where  the  "  Partridge  "  burst  into 
thunderous  flight  amid  a  whirl  of  scattered  leaves,  and 
dashed  away  through  bending  twigs  and  swaying  branches, 
every  sight  and  sound  impressed  itself  vividly  upon  my 
youthful  mind,  but  none  made  a  more  lasting  impression 
than  the  song  of  the  Oven-bird.  To  me  the  bird  then 
seemed  to  say  chick',  KERCHICK',  KERCHICK',  repeating 
its  single  phrase  an  indefinite  number  of  times,  while  the 
silent  woods,  acting  as  a  sounding  board,  rang  and  rever- 
berated with  the  crescendo  strain.  Later,  when  1  lingered 
in  the  woods  at  evening  until  the  stars  came  out  and  the 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   189 


bats  were  flying  (for  my  days  were  spent  at  school,  and 
there  was  no  time  but  morning  and  evening  in  which  to 
really  live),  I  heard  a  burst  of  melody  far  above  the  tree 
tops,  and  saw  the  little  singer  rising  against  the  glow  in  the 
western  sky,  simulating  the  Skylark,  and  pouring  forth  its 


Fig.  62.  —  Oven-bird  and  nest. 

melody,  not  to  the  orb  of  day  but  to  the  slowly  rising  moon  ; 
then,  when  the  melody  came  nearer,  as  the  exhausted  singer 
fell  from  out  the  sky  and  shot  swiftly  downward,  alighting 
at  my  very  feet,  I  saw  in  the  dim  light  that  the  author  of 
this  soaring  vesper  song  was  my  little  common,  every-day 
friend,  the  Oven-bird.  Xight  after  night  I  listened  to  its 
flight  song  above  the  wooded  hills  of  Worcester,  where  it 
is  one  of  the  usual  sounds  of  evening.  Years  afterward, 
John  Burroughs,  the  dean  of  nature  writers,  described  its 
evensong,  and  people  seemed  to  marvel  as  if  it  were  a  new 


190  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


discovenr.  It  seemed  to  me  impossible  that  any  one  who 
ever  went  out  into  the  woods  at  evening  should  have  missed 
hearing  this  characteristic  song.  But  so  it  is.  Some  one 
describes  for  the  first  time  some  common  sight  or  sound  of 
the  woods  and  fields,  —  something  well  known  to  all  who  fre- 
quent them,  something  which  it  seems  ought  to  be  known 
to  all  the  world,  — and  it  is  received  with  acclaim  as  a 
discovery.  Mr.  Burroughs  has  aptly  given  the  Oven-bird 
the  name  of  calling  "Teacher,  teacher,"  but  here  in  Massa- 
chusetts it  exhorts  the  teacher  to  teach  somewhat  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Teacher,  teacher,  TEACHER,  TEACHER,  TEACHER, 
TEACHER,  TEACH."  The  bird  is  already  becoming  known 
as  the  "  Teacher  Bird."  Its  common  alarm  notes  are  a  chuck 
or  a  sharp  chick. 

Its  golden  crown,  its  spotted  breast,  and  its  manner  of 
walking  upon  the  ground  or  along  a  limb,  as  well  as  its 
characteristic  song,  which  is  usually  uttered  when  the  singer 
is  perched  upon  a  horizontal  limb  in  the  woods,  will  all  serve 
to  identify  the  bird.  The  lift  of  the  tail,  which  is  charac- 
teristic of  all  birds  of  this  genus,  and  which  has  given  them 
the  name  of  Wagtails,  is  more  noticeable  among  the  Water- 
Thrushes  than  with  this  species.  The  Oven-bird  is  more 
distinctively  a  ground  Warbler  than  any  other  common 
species  except  the  Water-Thrushes.  It  feeds  very  largely 
from  the  ground,  walking  about  silently  and  deliberately,  as 
if  in  no  hurry,  and  picking  up  its  food  from  among  the  fallen 
leaves  ;  but  when  alarmed  it  usually  flies  to  the  trees,  among 
the  branches  of  which  the  males  sing  and  woo  their  intended 
mates.  When  the  female,  having  young,  is  started  from  the 
nest,  she  drags  herself  along  over  the  ground  fluttering  as  if 
sorely  wounded,  in  an  effort  to  lead  her  disturber  away  from 
her  home.  Both  parents  are  exceedingly  affectionate  toward 
their  young,  and  endeavor  to  protect  them  by  every  means 
in  their  power. 

When  upon  the  ground  it  feeds  like  Thrushes  and  To- 
whees,  finding  grubs  among  the  leaves,  and  picking  up  cat- 
erpillars or  other  insects  that  have  dropped  from  the  trees. 
In  this  way  it  finds  many  caterpillars  of  the  gipsy  moth  in 
their  hiding  places  among  dead  leaves  or  shrubbery.  It 


SONG   BIXDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       191 

often  goes  to  orchards  near  the  woods,  and  seeks  canker- 
worms  and  other  tree  pests.  Dr.  Warren  says  that  it  eats 
earthworms.  While  mainly  insectivorous,  this  bird  can  sub- 
sist partly  on  farinaceous  food.  It  picks  up  many  small 
seeds,  and  dwellers  in  the  woods  find  it  coming  about  the 
doors  for  crumbs. 

Black  and  White  Warbler.      Black  and  White  Creeper. 
Mniolilta  varia. 

Length.  —  About  live  and  one-quarter  inches. 

Adult  Mule.  —  Streaked  generally  except  on  belly  with  black  and  white;  belly 

white ;  fine  streaks  on  sides  of  neck  and  lower  back  sometimes  give  a  gray 

effect. 
Adult  Female.  —  Much  the  same,  except  duller,  with  colors  more  suffused ;  under 

parts  mainly  white,  with  obscure  streaks  on  sides. 
Xest.  —  On  ground ;  much  like  Oven-bird's ;  similarly  concealed,  and  often  roofed, 

but  smaller;  it  is  sometimes  built  in  a  hollow  tree. 
Eggs.  —  White,  brown-spotted  at  large  end. 
Season.  —  April  to  September. 

This  common,  well-known  Warbler,  which  rarely  builds 
its  nest  in  trees,  resorts  to  them  for  a  greater  part  of  its 
food.  The  bird  is  usually  found  in  woodlands,  ranging  from 
low  river  valleys  to  the  slopes  of  high 
hills.  It  usually  nests  on  dry  land  in 
deciduous  woods,  where  it  may  be  seen 
throughout  the  season  creeping  about  old 
stumps,  shrubbery,  and  the  trunks  and 
limbs  of  trees.  It  follows  out  the  limbs,  Figf  53.—  mack  and 
peering  quickly  here  and  there,  over  and  white  warbler,  two. 

J  thirds  natural  size. 

back,  in  its  endless  search  for  insects. 

Its  usual  notes  are  a  thin  screep  or  chirp,  and  a  sharp 
chick.  The  ordinary  song  is  a  repetition  of  such  notes,  not 
unmusical,  and  characteristic  of  the  woods.  Mr.  Hoffman 
describes  it  as  icee-see' ',  wee-see',  wee-see' ;  but  the  bird  has 
another  lay,  far  more  musical  and  varied  than  this,  which  is 
often  heard  early  in  the  season,  when  the  first  males  come. 
This  burst  of  melody  is  usually  preceded  by  a  few  notes  of 
its  common  song.  It  chatters  also  when  it  is  excited  or 
disturbed  by  some  enemy.  This  bird  largely  takes  the  eco- 
nomic place  in  summer  that  is  so  well  filled  by  the  Brown 
Creeper  in  the  winter  woods,  but  it  is  not  so  much  confined 


192  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


to  the  tree  trunks.  Like  the  Creeper,  it  searches  every 
cranny  of  the  bark  for  insects  ;  it  feeds  on  wood-boring 
insects,  bark  beetles,  click  beetles,  curculios,  and  the  eggs 
of  insects.  But  it  does  much  more  than  this,  for  when  it 
comes  to  Massachusetts  the  buds  are  about  to  burst,  and  all 
through  the  spring  and  summer  it  searches  over  the  limbs, 
twigs,  buds,  and  leaves,  destroying  caterpillars,  beetles,  and 
bugs  that  are  found  on  bark  and  foliage.  Now  and  then  it 
startles  a  resting  moth  from  a  tree  trunk,  or  observes  one 
flying  below,  and,  darting  down,  catches  it  in  air  almost  as 
skilfully  as  a  Flycatcher.  Its  swiftness  and  dexterity  in  fly- 
catching  seem  to  be  derived  largely  from  the  impetus  of  its 
downward  plunge,  for,  so  far  as  I  have  observed,  it  never 
essays  to  follow  insects  that  fly  by  above  it. 

The  bird  is  very  destructive  at  times  to  hairy  caterpillars, 
eating  large  quantities  of  them ;  and,  as  it  also  destroys  the 
pupre  and  moths  of  these  insects,  it  exerts  considerable  in- 
fluence toward  checking  the  gipsy  moth.  This  Warbler  is 
quite  as  valuable  in  the  orchard  as  in  the  woodland,  as  it 
feeds  on  many  orchard  pests ;  but  unfortunately  it  is  not  so 
commonly  seen  in  orchards  as  in  its  favorite  woods.  Its 
food  on  those  occasions  when  it  descends  to  the  ground  is  not 
very  well  known,  but  it  often  picks  up  cutworm  moths  that 
hide  there,  and  Gentry  says  that  it  eats  earthworms. 

Chestnut-sided   Warbler. 
Dendroica  pensylvanica. 

Length.  —  About  five  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Top  of  the  head  yellow;  back  yellow  and  ashy,  black-streaked; 
ear  patch  and  wing  bars,  large  spots  on  tail  feathers,  and  iinder  parts, 
white ;  a  black  patch  extends  from  the  lower  mandible  to  and  through  the 
eye  above,  and  below  to  a  broad  chestnut  streak  which  runs  down  the  side 
of  the  body. 

Adult  Female.  —  Somewhat  similar,  but  duller. 

Nest.  —  Usually  in  a  low  bush,  lined  with  fine  grasses. 

Eggs.  —  White,  with  purplish  or  reddish  brown  spots  and  blotches. 

Season.  —  May  to  September. 

This  species  is  a  summer  resident  throughout  most  of  the 
State,  usually  appearing  here  the  second  week  in  May.  In 
spring  it  may  be  seen  gleaning  insects  in  both  woods  and 
orchards  and  in  all  kinds  of  vegetation,  from  low  shrubbery 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   193 

to  tall  trees ;  but,  unlike  the  other  species  of  Warblers 
hereinbefore  considered,  it  does  not  commonly  go  to  the 
ground  for  much  of  its  food.  During  the  breeding  season 
it  is  largely  a  bird  of  the  shrubbery  on  the  borders  of  wood- 
land, and,  like  the  Yellow-throat,  is  common  along  bushy 
roadsides.  There  in  warm 
weather  it  is  often  seen,  with 
its  tail  elevated  and  its  wings 
drooping,  flitting  occasionally 
from  bush  to  bush,  or  catch- 
ing insects  in  air,  after  the 
manner  of  the  Myrtle  Warbler. 
Its  common  note  is  a  sharp 
chirp,  much  like  that  of  other 
AYarblers  ;  but  its  spring  song  Fig.  64. _  chestnut-sided  warbler, 
is  loud,  varied,  and  distinct,  natural  size, 

resembling  most  that  of  the  Yellow  Warbler.  Its  usual 
summer  song  is  a  soft,  prolonged,  rather  weak  but  pleasing 
warble.  The  nest  building  of  this  Warbler  is  an  interesting 
part  of  its  life  history.  Its  nest,  though  often  built  in  locali- 
ties frequented  by  the  Yellow  Warbler,  is  little  like  that  of 
the  latter  except  in  shape.  It  is  situated  usually  in  a  much 
lower  shrub  than  is  that  of  the  Yellow  Warbler,  and  is  built 
more  strongly  and  with  more  painstaking  care.  Mr.  Mosher 
notes  on  May  17,  1899,  that  a  pair  of  these  birds  had  just 
completed  a  nest.  They  had  been  at  work  upon  it  for  five 
days.  The  female  first  laid  the  foundation  at  the  forking  of 
three  branches  of  an  arrow-wood  bush,  about  two  and  one- 
half  feet  from  the  ground.  She  laid  a  few  straws  and  fibers 
of  plants,  then  bound  them  to  the  three  branches  by  means 
of  tent  caterpillars'  web.  Then  she  brought  a  few  straws 
at  a  time  and  placed  them  around  the  sides,  shaping  them 
by  turning  round  and  round.  She  bound  them  very  firmly 
in  place  with  the  web,  and  thus  fastened  them  to  the  three 
branches.  When  the  sides  were  all  finished  she  put  in  the 
lining.  This  consisted  of  fine  grasses  and  soft  fibers.  The 
nest  when  completed  was  much  less  bulky  than  the  Yellow 
Warbler's,  but  much  firmer;  the  walls  were  not  more  than 
one-fourth  as  thick. 


194  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


The  food  of  the  Chestnut-sided  Warbler  is  such  that  the 
bird  must  be  exceedingly  useful  in  woodland  and  shrubbery, 
and  in  orchard  and  shade  trees  as  well,  whenever  it  frequents 
them.  It  is  probable  that  at  times  it  destroys  considerable 
numbers  of  parasitic  hymenoptera,  as  it  is  rather  expert  as  a 
flycatcher  ;  but  it  is  very  destructive  to  many  injurious  beetles 
and  caterpillars,  being  one  of  the  most  active  consumers  of 
leaf-eating  insects.  Small  borers  or  bark  beetles,  plant  bugs 
and  plant  lice,  leaf  hoppers,  ants,  and  aphids  are  eaten. 

In  seasons  of  great  want  it  eats  a  few  seeds.  Audubon 
says  that  he  once  shot  several  birds  in  Pennsylvania  during  a 
cold  spell  and  snowstorm  in  early  spring,  and  that  the  only 
food  in  their  stomachs  was  grass  seeds  and  a  few  spiders,  but 
the  birds  were  emaciated  and  evidently  half  starved.  This 
Warbler  is  almost  entirely  insectivorous,  and  for  this  reason, 
perhaps,  as  soon  as  its  young  are  well  able  to  travel  both 
young  and  old  begin  their  southern  journey.  In  September 
a  few  birds,  probably  from  farther  north,  may  be  seen  in 
autumnal  dress,  gleaning  insects  from  the  tree  tops,  and  no 
more  are  seen  until  the  following  spring. 

Yellow  Warbler.      Blue-eyed  Yellow  Warbler.     Yellow  Bird.     Summer 
Yellow  Bird.     "Wild  Canary." 

Dendroica  cestiva. 
Length. — About  live  inches. 
Adult  Male.  —  Yellow;  back  a  rich  yellow-olive,  occasionally  streaked  with 

orange-brown ;  breast  also  streaked  narrowly  with  the  same  color. 
Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  but  duller ;  breast  generally  unstreaked. 
Nest.  —  A  deep,  soft  cup  five  to  ten  feet  from  ground,  in  a  bush,  or  higher  up  in 

orchard  or  shade  tree,  or  in  a  fork  of  small  sapling  or  shrub. 
Eggs. — Either  bluish-white  or  greenish-white,  with  obscure  lilac  markings,  and 

brown  spots  grouped  around  the  larger  end. 
Season.  —  May  to  September. 

The  Yellow  Bird  is  the  most  familiar  of  all  our  Warblers, 
for  it  has  forsaken  the  woodlands  for  orchards  and  shade 
trees  near  dwelling  houses.  It  arrives  in  May,  when  the  first 
young  leaflets  begin  to  clothe  the  trees  with  verdure,  and 
plays  about  like  a  rich  yellow  flame  among  the  pink  of  the 
apple  blossoms.  It  is  often  confused  in  the  popular  mind 
with  the  Goldfinch,  which  is  also  called  the  Yellow  Bird, 
but  which  may  be  distinguished  at  once  by  the  black  of  the 


SONG   BIRDS    OF    ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       195 

crown,  wings,  and  tail,  for  the  Yellow  Warbler  has  no  black 
markings. 

Although  the  Yellow  Warbler  is  not  now  commonly  found 
in  the  woods,  it  is  sometimes  seen  within  their  borders,  and 
is  common  in  thickets  along  streams  and  roads,  as  well  as  in 
bushy  pastures.     It  is  not  usually 
seen  on  the  ground  or  in  the  tops 
of  the  tallest  trees,  but  visits  all 
parts  of  trees  and  shrubbery. 

Its  alarm  note  is  a  loud  chirp. 
Its  usual  song  has  much  the  quality 
of  a  whistle,  and  may  be  expressed 
by  the  syllables  we'-cliee,  ive'-chee, 
wee'oo.  The  song  is  frequently 

much  longer,  has  several  variations,  and  often  closely  re- 
sembles one  song  of  the  Chestnut-sided  Warbler. 

The  nest  building  of  this  bird  is  performed  entirely  by  the 
female  ;  the  nest  is  daintily  but  loosely  constructed,  and  is 
very  rapidly  built.  The  following  brief  account  of  the  nest 
building,  taken  from  Mr.  Mosher's  notes,  May  16,  1899, 
shows  this  bird  to  be  an  enemy  of  the  cankerworm  and  the 
tent  caterpillar :  — 

She  first  laid  a  foundation  of  a  few  straws  and  placed  upon  them 
the  cotton  or  down  from  fern  fronds.  These  she  bound  together  with 
the  silk  from  a  tent  caterpillar's  web.  Then  she  went  alternately 
for  the  cotton  and  the  silk,  stopping  occasionally  at  an  apple  tree  and 
feeding  for  a  moment  or  two  on  cankerworms.  When  I  went  past  the 
nest  at  night  I  found  she  had  it  nearly  complete ;  the  lining  only  was 
lacking. 

It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  summer  bird  more  useful  among 
the  shade  trees  or  in  the  orchard  and  small-fruit  garden  than 
this  species.  Almost  entirely  insectivorous,  it  feeds  on  many 
of  the  greatest  pests  that  attack  our  fruit  trees,  vines,  and 
berry  bushes.  Whenever  the  caterpillars  of  which  it  is  fond 
are  plentiful,  they  form  about  two-thirds  of  its  food.  It  is 
destructive  to  the  small  caterpillars  of  the  gipsy  moth  and 
the  brown-tail  moth,  and  is  inordinately  fond  of  cankerworms 
and  other  measuring  worms.  Tent  caterpillars  are  com- 
monly eaten.  Small  bark  beetles  and  boring  beetles  are 


196  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


eaten,  among  them  the  imago  of  the  currant  borer.  Weevils 
are  greedily  taken.  A  few  useful  beetles  are  sacrificed; 
among  them  ground  beetles,  soldier  beetles,  and  small  scav- 
enger beetles.  The  Yellow  Warbler  has  some  expertness  as 
a  flycatcher  among  the  branches,  and  seizes  small  moths,  like 
the  codling  moth,  with  ease,  but  apparently  does  not  take 
many  parasitic  hymenoptera,  though  some  flies  are  taken. 
Plant  lice  sometimes  form  a  considerable  portion  of  its  food. 
No  part  of  the  tree  where  it  can  find  insect  food  is  exempt 
from  its  visits,  and  it  even  takes  grasshoppers,  spiders,  and 
myriapods  from  the  ground,  grass,  or  low-growing  herbage. 
It  usually  leaves  Massachusetts  in  August  or  early  September. 

American   Redstart. 
Setophaga  ruticilla. 

Length.  —  Five  to  five  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Lustrous  black;  head,  neck,  and  most  of  breast  black;  a  wide 
orange  band  across  wing  quills,  and  another  across  basal  parts  of  all  but 
the  middle  tail  feathers ;  sides  of  body  and  lining  of  wings  flame  color, 
a  tinge  of  which  sometimes  extends  across  the  lower  breast ;  other  lower 
parts  mainly  white. 

Adult  Female  and  Male  of  the  First  Year.  —  Similar,  but  without  black;  colors 
paler,  the  black  replaced  above  by  gray  and  olive  and  below  by  white ; 
orange  replaced  by  yellow,  and  a  whitish  line  in  front  of  and  around  the 
eye.  Tail  of  young  male  darker  toward  tip  than  that  of  female. 

Nest.  —  A  neat,  compact  structure,  in  upright  fork  of  sapling  or  tree. 

Eggs.  —  Somewhat  similar  to  those  of  the  Yellow  Warbler,  but  usually  with 
fewer  and  finer  spots. 

Season. — May  to  September. 

This  species  arrives  in  Massachusetts  about  the  second 
week  in  May.  Unlike  the  foregoing  Warblers,  it  forages 
habitually  from  the  ground  and  low  underbrush  to  the  very 
tops  of  the  tallest  trees.  It  is  also  a  very  active  and  expert 
flycatcher.  Its  bill  is  broadened  at  the  base  and  its  mouth  is 
surrounded  with  bristles,  like  those  of  the  Flycatchers  and 
some  other  families  that  take  their  prey  mostly  upon  the 
wing.  The  Redstart  is  almost  constantly  in  nervous  motion, 
darting  and  fluttering  from  twig  to  twig  in  pursuit  of  its 
elusive  prey.  In  all  its  movements  its  wings  are  held  in 
readiness  for  instant  flight,  and  in  its  sinuous  twistings  and 
turnings,  risings  and  fallings,  its  colors  expand,  contract,  and 
glow  amid  the  sylvan  shades  like  a  dancing  torch  in  the 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   197 

hands  of  a  madman.  Chapman  tells  us  that  in  Cuba  most 
of  our  wood  Warblers  are  known  simply  as  "mariposas" 
(butterflies),  but  the  Redstart's  flaming  plumage  has  won 
for  it  the  name  of  "candelita,"  the  "little  torch,"  that  flashes 
in  the  gloomy  depths  of  the  tropical  forest.  He  gives  the 


Pig.  66.  — American  Redstart.    Lower  figure,  male;  upper  figure,  female. 
One-half  natural  size. 

song  as  ching,  ching,  chee,  ser-wee,  swee,  swee-e-e,  and  this 
is  a  good  description  of  its  general  character.  The  song 
varies,  however,  like  that  of  other  Warblers,  but  is  usually 
more  cheerful  than  musical.  The  alarm  note  of  the  Redstart 
is  a  sharp  chirp. 

The  insect  food  of  the  Redstart  is  perhaps  more  varied 
than  that  of  any  other  common  Warbler.  Apparently  there 
are  few  forest  insects  of  small  size  that  do  not,  in  some  of 
their  forms,  fall  a  prey  to  this  bird.  Caterpillars  that  escape 
some  of  the  slower  birds  by  spinning  down  from  the  branches 
and  hanging  by  their  silken  threads  are  snapped  up  in  mid  air 
by  the  Redstart.  It  takes  its  prey  from  trunk,  limbs,  twigs, 
leaves,  and  also  from  the  air,  so  that  there  is  no  escape  for 


198  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


the  tree  insects  which  it  pursues  unless  they  reach  the  upper 
air,  where  the  Redstart  seldom  goes,  except  in  migration. 
It  has  been  named  the  flycatcher  of  the  inner  tree  tops,  but 
it  is  a  flycatcher  of  the  bush  tops  as  well.  While  there  are 
few  small  pests  of  deciduous  trees  that  it  does  not  eat  in 
some  form,  it  is  not  confined  to  these  trees,  but  forages  more 
or  less  among  coniferous  trees.  Also  it  is  seen  at  times  in 
orchards,  and  gleans  among  shade  trees  in  localities  where 
the  woods  are  cut  away.  It  is  impossible  to  weigh  the  pros 
and  cons  of  this  bird's  food,  for  no  thorough  examination  of 
it  has  ever  been  made.  It  is  an  efficient  caterpillar  hunter, 
and  one  of  the  most  destructive  enemies  of  the  smaller  hairy 
caterpillars.  It  catches  bugs,  moths,  gnats,  two-winged  flies, 
small  grasshoppers,  and  beetles.  It  probably  secures  a  larger 
proportion  of  parasitic  hymenoptera  and  diptera  than  most 
other  Warblers,  occasionally  destroying  a  few  wasps  ;  other- 
wise, its  habits  seem  to  be  entirely  beneficial. 

Black-throated  Green  Warbler. 

Dendroica  virens. 
Length.  —  About  five  inches. 
Adult  Male.  —  Olive  above;  sides  of  head  and  neck  yellow,  often  with  darker 

line  through  eye ;  chin,  throat,  and  breast  black ;  belly  white ;  sides  striped 

with  blackish ;  wings  and  tail  dark ;  white  wing  bars ;  outer  tail  feathers 

marked  with  white. 

Adult  Female.  —  Yellow  duller ;  black  of  throat  largely  obscured  by  gray. 
Nest.  —  Usually  fifteen  to  fifty  feet  up  in  a  white  pine,  in  a  fork  toward  the  end 

of  a  branch ;  made  of  bark,  twigs,  and  grasses,  and  lined  with  soft  materials. 
Eggs.  —  Creamy  white,  with  brown  and  purplish  markings  grouped  toward  the 

larger  end. 
Season.  —  April  to  October. 

The  Warblers  noted  in  the  pages  immediately  preceding 
live  largely  among  deciduous  trees  and  shrubbery ;  but 
this  species  dwells  by  choice  among  coniferous  trees,  and 
in  Massachusetts  it  stays  principally  in  groves  of  white 
pine.  While  migrating  in  spring  and  fall  it  feeds  anywhere 
in  mixed  deciduous  woods,  but  it  is  evidently  more  at  home 
among  the  pines,  where  it  gleans  its  usual  food  from  the 
lower  branches  to  the  tree  tops.  This  bird  does  not  com- 
monly descend  to  the  ground  except  to  procure  nesting 
material  or  to  bathe. 


SONG-   BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       199 

One  day,  as  I  stopped  to  drink  at  a  spring  in  the  woods,  a 
beautiful  male  Black-throated  Green  Warbler  shot  down  from 
a  tall  tree  and  alighted  on  a  moss-grown  rock  that  bordered 
the  diminutive  pool.  Evidently  he  had  not  expected  me,  but 
was  not  at  all  afraid.  He  looked  up  at  me  inquiringly  for  a 
moment,  and  then,  stepping  into  the 
shallow  water,  dipped  his  head  and 
threw  the  drops  in  showers  as  he 
shook  out  his  brilliant  plumage 
in  the  bath.  His  ablutions 
finished,  quite  within  reach 
of  my  hand,  he  mounted  again 
to  the  tree  top,  and  sent  back  his  drowsy 

SOllg.  Fig.  67.  —  Black-throated 

This  bird  has  several  chirps  which  it     Green  Warb]er,  natural 

1      t  size. 

utters  to  express  different  emotions,  but 
its  song  is  most  charming,  harmonizing,  as  it  does,  with  the 
whispering  of  the  pines  to  the  summer  wind.  It  has  a  zeeing 
sound.  Hoffman  gives  it  as  zee,  zee,  zu,  zi.  This  is  given 
with  a  little  of  the  quality  which  characterizes  the  song  of  the 
harvest  cicada,  and  often  with  a  difference  in  the  pitch  of  the 
first  and  last  syllables.  John  Burroughs  graphically  repre- 
sents the  notes  thus  :  —  — -\/~"  •  Tne  uPPer  lines  signify 
the  higher  tones.  Bradford  Torrey  translates  the  song  as 
"Trees,  trees,  murmuring  trees  ;  "  but  a  more  practical  writer 
assures  us  that  the  bird  calls  for  "  Cheese,  cheese,  a  little 
more  cheese."  It  has  at  least  one  other  song  of  the  same 
character,  but  longer  and  perhaps  a  trifle  more  varied.  This 
is  usually  considered  to  be  its  entire  repertoire;  but  no  one 
can  ever  be  quite  sure  that  he  knows  all  the  notes  of  any 
bird.  In  the  fall  of  1905  I  heard  in  a  small  birch  tree  in 
Concord  a  song  that  resembled  closely  the  lay  of  a  Warbling 
Vireo.  In  fact,  I  mistook  it  for  the  song  of  that  bird;  but 
in  trying  to  find  the  singer  I  soon  learned  that  there  was 
no  Vireo  in  the  tree,  and  that  the  song  came  from  a  young 
male  Black-throated  Green  Warbler,  which  repeated  it  sev- 
eral times  before  my  eyes. 

Mr.  C.  A.  Reed  says  he  believes  that  when  its  nest  is  in 
danger  of  discovery  this  Warbler  sometimes  brings  straws 


200  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


and  places  them  on  a  branch  in  plain  sight  of  the  observer, 
in  order  to  deceive  him,  and  draw  his  attention  away  from 
the  nest.  He  states  that  he  has  known  of  more  than  one 
occurrence  of  this  kind.  His  observations  seem  to  be  cor- 
roborated by  the  actions  of  a  bird  that  was  nesting  in  our  pine 
grove.  When  watched,  it  began  carrying  nesting  material 
into  an  old  tin  can  that  was  suspended  in  a  large  pine  tree ; 
but  when  the  attention  of  the  observer  was  attracted  else- 
where, it  went  no  farther  with  its  nest  in  the  can.  While 
the  birds  are  building,  the  male  brings  some  nesting  mate- 
rial, but  the  female  does  the  work  of  construction.  The 
food  of  this  Warbler,  like  that  of  others  of  the  family,  con- 
sists of  caterpillars  and  other  larvae  of  many  kinds,  beetles, 
small  bugs,  and  flies.  Professor  Aughey  says  that  the  stom- 
achs of  five  specimens  taken  in  Nebraska  contained  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty  insects,  —  an  average  of  forty-four  to  each 
bird  ;  a  large  number  of  these  insects  were  young  locusts. 

Pine  Warbler.     Pine-creeping  Warbler. 

Dendroica  vigorsii. 
Length.  —  Five  and  one-half  to  six  inches. 
Adult  Male.  —  Above,  olive ;  wings  and  tail  dusky ;  two  white  wing  bars ;  throat, 

breast,  and  line  over  eye  bright  yellow,  somewhat  clouded  or  streaked  on 

sides  with  a  darker  shade. 
Adult  Female.  —  Duller;  often  with  little  or  no  yellow  below;  large  white  spots 

on  two  outer  tail  feathers  of  both  sexes. 
Nest.  —  In  much  the  same  situation  as  that  of  the  Black-throated  Green  "Warbler, 

but  oftener  in  pitch  pines ;  it  is  sometimes  saddled  on  a  horizontal  limb, 

and  is  then  flat  and  rather  slovenly  in  build ;  usually  lined  with  feathers. 
Eggs. — White  with  brown  markings,  chiefly  at  larger  end. 
Season. — April  to  October. 

The  Pine  Warbler  has  a  marked  preference  for  pine  woods 
and  groves  ;  but,  unlike  the  Black-throated  Green  Warbler, 
it  seems  to  prefer  the  pitch  pines,  and  is  one  of  the  few  birds 
that  habitually  live  and  breed  in  the  woods  of  this  charac- 
ter that  exist  on  dry  and  sandy  lands,  like  those  of  Cape 
Cod.  It  has  been  called  the  Pine-creeping  Warbler,  from 
its  habit  of  creeping  along  the  branches,  and  occasionally 
up  and  around  the  trunks  of  pines.  For  a  Warbler  it 
seems  a  rather  slow  and  indolent  bird  ;  still,  at  times  it  is 
remarkably  active.  Its  alarm  note  is  a  sharp  chirp ;  its 
other  notes  are  few  and  weak.  The  song  is  one  of  the  most 


SONG   BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       201 

soothing  sounds  of  the  pine  woods.  It  has  in  it  the  same 
dreamy  drowsiness  that  characterizes  the  note  of  the  Black- 
throated  Green  Warbler,  but  is  otherwise  entirely  different 
in  tone  and  quality,  being  composed  of  a  series  of  short, 
soft,  whistling  notes,  run  together  in  a  continuous  trill.  It 
resembles,  in  a  way,  the  song  of  the  Chip- 
ping Sparrow,  except  that  it  is  softer  and 
more  musical.  Often  the  bird  will 
sit  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes 
in  one  spot,  and, 
as  the  song  seems 
ventriloquial  at 
times,  the  singer  is 
then  hard  to  find. 

This  bird  is  one  of 
the  earliest  Warblers  to 
arrive  in  spring.  It  is 
undoubtedly  the  partic- 
ular guardian  of  the  Fig.  68.  -  Pine  Warbler,  natural  size. 

pines,    about  Avhich    it 

remains  until  very  late  in  the  season,  for  it  feeds  mainly  on 
insects  that  infest  pine  trees.  It  has  been  seen  in  Wareham 
in  December  and  January.  It  is  able  to  subsist  to  some 
extent  on  the  seeds  of  pines,  and  when  there  is  a  good  crop 
of  pine  seed  it  can  remain  longer  than  most  other  Warblers. 

Myrtle  Warbler.     Myrtle  Bird.     Yellow-rumped  Warbler. 

Dendroica  coronata. 
Length.  —  About  five  and  one-half  inches. 
Adult  Male.  —  Above,  slaty;  black-streaked;  wings  and  tail  brownish,  marked 

with  white ;  chest  clouded  and  streaked  with  black ;  two  wing  bars,  throat, 

tail  spots,  lower  breast,  and  belly  white;  crown,  rump,  and  a  patch  on  each 

side  of  breast  bright  yellow. 
Female.  —  In  spring,  much  like  male,  but  duller;    in  fall,  and  male  in  fall, 

generally  browner,  with  colors  less  pure  and  conspicuous. 
Young.  —  Brownish  above,  white  below;  rump  yellow. 
Nest.  —  In  bush  or  coniferous  tree,  usually  lined  with  fine,  soft  materials. 
Eggs.  —  White,  marked  with  browns  and  purples. 
Season.  —  April  to  November;  winters  in  favorable  localities. 

This  beautiful  bird  probably  does  not  breed  in  Massachu- 
setts  except  in  some  higher  parts  of  northern   Worcester 


202 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


County  and  among  the  western  hills,  but  it  is  one  of  the 
most  common  migrating  Warblers  throughout  the  State. 

The  Myrtle  Warbler  has  a  variety  of  notes,  but  the  one 
usually  uttered  both  spring  and  fall  is  a  soft  chirp  or  cliup^ 
which,  at  a  little  distance,  exactly  resembles  the  sound  pro- 
duced by  a  large  drop  of  water  as  it  strikes 
on  wet  ground  or  leaf  mould.  These 
sounds  are  so  similar  that  after 
storms  in  the  woods  I  have  often 
found  it  difficult  to  distinguish  the 
note  of  this  Warbler  from  the  splash  of 
the  large  drops  that  were  still  falling  from 
the  trees.  The  song  is  a  rather  weak 

Fig.69.-MyrtleWar.      Warble>    VelT    SW6et>    and     °ften     °f    long 

bier,  nearly  natural    duration.     Sometimes  portions  of  it  are 

given  quite  loudly,  in  a  jingling  tone, 

resembling  somewhat  that  of  the  Indigo  Bird.     It  has  quite 

as  many  variations  as  the  song  of  any  Warbler  that  I  now 

recall. 

The  Myrtle  Bird  remains  through  the  winter  in  some  por- 
tions of  the  State  where  it  can  find  food  ;  and,  as  it  frequents 
woodlands,  orchards,  and  shade  trees,  as  well  as  thickets, 
it  is  probably  the  most  useful  of  the  Warblers  that  are  not 
common  in  summer.  It  remains  in  fall  all  along  the  coast 
where  bayberries  grow,  and  until  the  supply  of  this  fruit 
becomes  exhausted  ;  then  the  birds  must  either  move  to  more 
favored  regions,  or  perish  of  cold  and  hunger,  which  latter 
not  infrequently  happens  in  hard  winters.  They  do  not, 
however,  rely  entirely  on  bayberries,  but  eat  a  few  other 
berries  and  some  seeds,  and  spend  much  time  in  searching 
for  hibernating  insects  and  insects' 
eggs.  They  are  not  confined  to 
the  sea  coast  in  winter,  for  they 
can  live  on  the  berries  of  the  red 
cedar ;  and  I  have  found  them 
wintering  in  sheltered  localities  in 
central  Worcester  County.  Dr.  Weed  made  a  special  study 
of  the  autumn  food  of  this  species.  He  found  that  they  ate 
bayberries,  caddis  flies,  various  insect  larvse,  beetles,  plant 


Fig.  7O.  — Woolly  apple  tree 
aphis,  eaten  by  Myrtle  Warbler. 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   203 

lice  and  their  eggs,  house  flies  and  other  diptera,  and  a  very 
few  hymenopterous  flies.  I  can  only  add  to  this  the  fact 
that  I  have  seen  this  species  feeding  on  the  woolly  apple  tree 
aphis  (Schizoneura  lanigem}  in  late  October  and  early  No- 
vember, after  all  the  birch  plant  lice,  of  which  these  birds 
are  verv  fond,  had  disappeared.  This  apple  tree  aphis  is  a 
particularly  destructive  species,  which  has  done  great  injury 
in  the  past.  Young  trees  are  frequently  injured  by  these 
aphids,  which  also  attack  the  roots  and  the  new  growth 
on  older  trees.  As  spring  approaches,  the  Myrtle  Warbler 
feeds  less  on  berries  and  seed,  but  eagerly  hunts  the  early 
flies,  moths,  and  gnats  that  appear  on  warm  days  in  sheltered 
swamps  and  along  water  courses.  It  now  becomes  of  great 
service  to  orchard  and  woodland,  for  large  flights  of  these 
birds  move  slowly  northward  through  the  State,  feeding 
very  largely  on  the  tree  pests  that  develop  with  the  open- 
ing foliage. 

VIREOS. 

The  Vireos  all  normally  seek  orchard,  woodland,  or  swampy 
thicket.  The  three  species,  however,  that  breed  commonly 
in  the  greater  part  of  Massachusetts,  have  all  learned  to  nest 
about  the  habitations  of  man.  They  perform  an  economic 
service  similar  to  that  rendered  by  the  Warblers,  except  that 
during  summer  they  feed  to  a  greater  extent  upon  wild  fruits. 
They  live  mainly  among  the  foliage,  and  in  action  much  re- 
semble Warblers,  except  that,  being  heavier  in  build,  their 
motions  are  usually  more  deliberate.  The  Solitary  Vireo 
and  the  White-eyed  Vireo  breed  here,  but  only  uncommonly 
or  locally.  The  latter  is  common  in  some  places  near  the 
coast,  but  I  have  found  it  in  only  a  few  favored  localities  in 
the  interior.  The  Solitary  Vireo  is  regarded  as  rare  in  the 
breeding  season,  but  it  probably  breeds  in  nearly  all  the 
counties  in  most  seasons.  It  may  be  present  in  a  certain 
piece  of  woods  during  one  breeding  season  and  absent  the 
next,  and  is  sometimes  fairly  common  in  considerable  areas 
in  some  counties. 


204  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


Red-eyed  Vireo. 

Vireo  olivaceus. 
Length.  —  About  six  inches. 
Adult.  —  Upper  parts  grayish  olive-green,  changing  to  gray  on  the  crown ;  a  dark 

stripe  on  either  side  of  the  crown ;  a  light  stripe  over  the  eye,  arid  dark 

streak  from  bill  through  eye ;  under  parts  grayish-white,  deepening  to  pale 

olive-yellow  on  the  flanks ;  iris  ruby-red. 
Nest.  —  A  pensile  cup;   usually  hung  by  its  upper  edge  from  a  fork,  five  to 

twenty-five  feet  from  the  ground. 

Eggs. — White,  spotted  with  dark  brown  at  the  larger  end. 
Season.  —  May  to  September. 

The  Red-eyed  Vireo,  although  not  so  abundant  as  the 
Robin,  is  one  of  the  most  common  and  widely  distributed 
summer  birds.  It  breeds  throughout  the  State.  It  is  very 

devoted  to  its  eggs  and 
young,  and  sits  very  closely 
on  the  nest.  The  mother 
bird  will  often  allow  a  per- 
son to  walk  by  within  arm's 
length  while  she  remains 
quietly  sitting.  The  par- 
ent birds  feed  and  protect 
their  young  for  a  long  time 
after  they  leave  the  nest. 

Fig.  71.  — Red-eyed  Vireo,  natural  size.  ^  J 

This  Vireo    sleeps  very 

soundly ;  soon  after  sunset  and  before  the  shades  of  night 
have  fallen  the  mother  bird  on  her  nest  tucks  her  head  under 
her  wing,  and  is  sometimes  so  oblivious  to  the  world  that 
she  may  be  approached  and  taken  in  the  hand.  The  Red- 
eye is  found  wherever  there  are  groups  of  deciduous  trees, 
or  woodlands  and  thickets.  Its  movements  as  it  slips  about 
among  the  branches  are  rather  deliberate.  It  sings  continu- 
ally, but  the  song  is  intermittent,  as  though  the  bird  were 
singing  incidentally  as  a  pastime,  like  a  boy  whistling  at  his 
work.  The  song  is  composed  of  phrases  of  a  few  syllables 
each,  and  the  manner  of  its  delivery,  with  many  rising  and 
some  falling  inflections  and  frequent  pauses,  led  Wilson  Flagg 
to  name  the  bird  the  "preacher."  Many  years  ago  I  learned 
that  the  preacher  had  other  business  than  his  preaching,  and 
that  he  practised  as  he  preached  ,•  for  it  was  through  watching 


SONG   BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       205 

this  species  that  I  first  became  aware  of  the  usefulness  of  birds 
to  man.  One  sunny  day  in  early  boyhood  I  watched  a  Vireo 
singing  in  a  swampy  thicket.  He  sang  a  few  notes,  his  head 
turning  meanwhile  from  side  to  side,  his  eyes  scanning  closely 
the  near-by  foliage.  Suddenly  the  song  ceased  ;  he  leaned 
forward,  sprang  to  another  twig,  snatched  a  green  caterpillar 
from  the  under  side  of  a  leaf,  swallowed  it,  and  resumed  the 
song.  Every  important  pause  in  his  dissertation  signalized 
the  capture  of  a  larva.  As  the  discourse  was  punctuated,  a 
worm  was  punctured.  It  seems  as  if  the  preaching  were  a 
serious  business  with  the  bird  ;  but  this  seeming  is  deceptive, 
for  the  song  merely  masks  the  constant  vigilance  and  the 
sleepless  eye  of  this  premium  caterpillar  hunter.  In  the 
discovery  of  this  kind  of  game  the  bird  has  few  superiors. 
He  goes  about  it  in  the  right  way.  Minot  says  :  "They  have 
never  struck  me  as  very  active  insect  hunters,  since  they 
devote  so  much  of  their  time  to  their  music."  This  is  true, 
but  the  Vireo  does  not  hunt  active  game  so  much  as  it  seeks 
those  defenceless  larvae  that  must  depend  upon  their  protec- 
tive shape  and  coloring  to  conceal  them  from  their  enemies. 
These  devices  may  insure  them  against  some  of  their  insect 
foes,  but  not  against  the  Vireo.  It  is  most  astonishing  to 
see  him  pick  up  caterpillar  after  caterpillar  from  twigs  and 
foliage,  where  with  the  best  glasses  our  untrained  eyes  can 
discern  "  nothing  but  leaves."  And  so  the  bird  sings  the 
livelong  day,  to  while  away  the  time  as  it  searches  over  the 
foliage.  This  habit  of  song  becomes  so  strong  that  the  male 
bird  sings  while  sitting  on  the  nest  to  relieve  his  faithful 
mate.  He  sings  all  summer,  and  even  into  the  fall.  When 
his  hunger  is  temporarily  satisfied,  he  will  sit  on  a  twig  and 
sing  for  minutes  at  a  time.  His  common  notes  are  an  alarmed 
chatter  and  a  querulous  cry. 

The  Red-eyed  Vireo  is  now  becoming  well  recognized  as 
a  great  insect  eater.  Mr.  Arthur  G.  Gilbert  informed  me 
that  he  fed  a  young  bird  of  this  species  a  hundred  grass- 
hoppers in  a  day.  When  the  last  grasshopper  had  been  swal- 
lowed the  bird  was  well  filled,  for  the  tips  of  the  insects' 
wings  projected  from  the  bird's  bill.  This  Vireo  is  one  of  the 
most  effective  enemies  of  the  gipsy  moth  and  brown-tail  moth. 


206  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


Moths  and  butterflies  of  many  kinds  are  eaten  ;  also  assassin 
bugs,  tree  hoppers,  and  bugs  that  eat  plants  and  fruit.  Many 
beetles,  among  them  boring  beetles,  bark  beetles,  and  weevils, 
grasshoppers,  katydids,  locusts,  —  all  are  eaten.  This  bird  at 
times  becomes  an  expert  flycatcher,  taking  horseflies,  mos- 
quitoes, and  other  gnats,  and  many  gall  flies.  It  appears  to 
take  a  larger  proportion  of  fruit  than  the  other  Vireos.  In 
summer  I  have  found  many  seeds  of  berries  in  the  stomachs 
of  these  birds,  and  sometimes  a  stomach  will  be  found  nearly 
filled  with  blueberries.  Raspberries,  blackberries,  and  mul- 
berries are  commonly  eaten.  Professor  King  has  found  dog- 
wood berries,  berries  of  the  prickly  ash,  and  sheep  berries  in 
their  stomachs  ;  Dr.  Fisher  says  they  are  fond  of  the  fruits 
of  the  benzoin  bush,  the  sassafras,  and  magnolia ;  and  Dr. 
Warren  asserts  that  they  feed  on  poke  berries  and  wild 
grapes. 

Warbling  Vireo. 
Vireo  gilvus. 

Length.  —  About  five  and  three-fourths  inches. 

Adult.  —  Upper  parts  generally  brownish-gray,  tinged  more  or  less  with  olive- 
green  ;  sides  of  head  lighter,  with  a  rather  light  line  above  the  eye,  but  no 
dark  line  through  it ;  below,  dull  white,  passing  into  yellowish  on  the  belly 
and  pale  buff  or  olive  on  sides. 

Nest  and  Eggs. — Much  like  those  of  the  preceding  species,  but  a  trifle  smaller; 
usually  in  a  shade  tree,  from  fifteen  to  fifty  feet  up. 

Season.  —  May  to  September. 

In  appearance  the  Warbling  Vireo  is  much  like  the  Red- 
eye, but  it  is  smaller  and  less  distinctly  marked.  In  the 
breeding  season  it  is  usually  seen 
at  no  great  distance  from  the 
large  elms  and  other  great  shade 
trees  that  line  country  roads  and 
village  streets.  It  was  found  com- 
monly in  city  shade  trees  until  the  intro- 
duced House  Sparrow  drove  it  out.  The 
Warbling  Vireo,  like  its  closely  related 
Pig.  72. -warbimg  congeners,  moves  about  amid  the  branches 

Vireo,  natural  size.  /.  a     .  •          11  j.i 

of  trees,  flying  only  occasionally  to  the 
ground,  or  moving  from  tree  to  tree  in  short  flights.  Its 
ordinary  notes  are  similar  to  those  of  the  Red-eye,  but  are 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   207 

less  vigorous.  Its  song  is  a  rather  low,  weak,  but  pleasing 
and  continuous  warble,  resembling  somewhat  in  quality  the 
song  of  the  Purple  Finch,  but  not  nearly  so  loud  and  bold. 
It  has  not  the  abrupt  and  intermittent  phrasing  of  the  song 
of  the  preceding  species,  but  is  sweeter,  more  tender,  and 
less  monotonous. 

This  bird  is  of  immense  service  to  man  in  the  destruction 
of  vast  numbers  of  injurious  insects  that  infest  the  trees 
about  the  house,  garden,  and  orchard,  as  well  as  those  of 
the  woods.  As  it  is  quite  a  flycatcher,  both  crawling  larvre 
and  winged  imagoes  suffer  from  its  depredations.  Horseflies 
and  other  dipterous  insects,  crane  flies  and  mosquitoes,  are 
all  taken.  Its  food,  however,  consists  largely  of  caterpillars 
and  other  leaf-eating  insects  ;  among  these  are  the  imported 
elm-leaf  beetle  (Galerucella  luteola)  and  the  twelve-spotted 
cucumber  beetle.  Grasshoppers  are  not  neglected.  Occa- 
sionally useful  flies,  ladybirds,  or  bees  are  killed,  but  the 
great  majority  of  insects  eaten  are  injurious.  The  fruit  taken 
seems  to  be  mainly  wild  and  Avorthless  berries. 

Yellow-throated  Vireo. 

Vireo  flavifrons. 

Length.  — Nearly  six  inches. 

Adult.  —  Above,  yellowish  olive-green,  shading  into  bluish-ash  on  rump;  mark- 
ings about  eye  yellow;  white  wing  bars;  wing  and  tail  feathers  dark, 
edged  with  whitish ;  below,  yellow  from  throat  to  belly,  which  is  white ; 
sides  olive,  shading  into  gray. 

Nest.  —  A  rather  large  pensile  cup,  hung  from  forking  twigs,  three  to  twenty  feet 
from  the  ground. 

Eggs.  — White,  with  black  and  brown  or  purplish  spots  about  larger  end. 

Season.  —  May  to  September. 

The  Yellow-throated  Vireo  was  once  evidently  an  inhabitant 
of  open  forests  of  great  deciduous  trees,  although  it  is  some- 
times found  in  pines  ;  but  since  the  destruction  of  the  original 
timber  growth  in  this  Commonwealth  it  has  learned  to  seek 
the  great  shade  trees  that  have  grown  up  along  streets  and 
about  residences  or  in  pastures.  The  groves  of  large  oaks 
and  other  deciduous  trees  that  are  found  on  well-cared-for 
estates  are  among  its  favorite  breeding  places.  It  often 
dwells  in  old  orchards.  Thus  it  has  come  to  live  about  the 
habitations  of  man,  and  in  eastern  Massachusetts  is  more 


208  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


commonly  seen  there  in  the  breeding  season  than  in  deep 
woods. 

The  nest  of  this  bird,  which  is  about  a  week  in  the  build- 
ing, is  outwardly  one  of  the  handsomest  specimens  of  bird 
architecture  to  be  found  anywhere.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how 

it  is  possible  for  a  bird  to  con- 
struct such  a  nest,  and  cover 
it  so  tastefully  with  lichens 
and  plantdown.     Undoubtedly 
the  skillful  use  of  caterpillars' web 
serves  in  attaching  these  ornamen- 
tal materials. 

The  bird  is  comparatively  deliber- 
ate in  both  song  and  movement,  and, 

though  naturally  shy  when  it  was  con- 
Fig.  73.  — Yellow-throated  J        J 
Vireo,  two-thirds  natural       fined    to    the    Open    WOods,   it    has    HOW 

become  rather  fearless,  and  may  be 

readily  watched  with  a  glass  as  it  moves  among  the  tall  trees. 
The  song  is  a  little  louder  than  that  of  most  Vireos,  and  may 
be  easily  distinguished  from  all  others.  It  usually  consists 
of  two  or  three  rich  and  virile  notes,  uttered  interrogatively 
or  tentatively,  followed  immediately  by  a  few  similar  tones 
uttered  decisively.  The  bird  appears  to  ask  a  question,  and 
then  answer  it.  Its  alarm  notes  are  as  harsh  as  those  of  an 
Oriole,  and  somewhat  similar  in  quality. 

This  Vireo  should  be  most  carefully  protected  and  encour- 
aged to  breed  about  the  homes  of  man,  for  it  feeds  upon  pests 
of  the  household,  forest,  and  orchard.  Common  house  flies 
and  mosquitoes  are  eaten.  In  the  orchard  it  attacks  the 
apple  plant  lice,  the  hairy  tent,  gipsy,  and  tussock  cater- 
pillars, as  well  as  moths  of  many  species.  It  is  quite  de- 
structive to  the  larvae  of  butterflies  also,  while  weevils  and 
other  beetles,  grasshoppers,  and  leaf  hoppers  are  eaten  to  a 
less  extent.  This  species  eats  a  few  unimportant  wild  ber- 
ries, such  as  the  fruit  of  the  red  cedar ;  but  so  far  as  I  have 
observed  it  is  not  so  fond  of  fruit  as  the  Red-eyed  Vireo, 
and  its  only  possible  harmful  habits  seem  to  be  the  occa- 
sional destruction  of  a  bee,  a  syrphus  fly,  or  some  hyme- 
nopterous  parasite. 


SONG   BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       209 


WAXWINGS. 

These  beautiful  but  inconspicuous  birds  are  noted  for  the 
peculiar  appendage  which  in  many  specimens  adorns  the  tip 
of  each  secondary  quill,  and  is  sometimes  found  on  the  tip 
of  each  tail  feather  also.  These  waxy  appendages  seem  to 
be  ornamental  rather  than  useful.  They  resemble  sealing 
wax,  hence  the  name  AVaxwing.  The  Bohemian  Waxwing, 
a  northern  species,  is  a  rare  winter  visitor  to  Massachusetts. 
The  Cedar  Waxwing  is  the  only  other  species  found  in 
America. 

Cedar  Waxwing.     Cedar  Bird.     Cherry  Bird. 
Ampelis  cedrorum. 

Length.  —  About  seven  and  a  quarter  inches. 

Adult.  — Head  long-crested;  chin,  forehead,  space  around  eye,  and  line  above  it 
black ;  general  color  rich  grayish  or  pinkish  brown,  with  tints  of  reddish- 
olive  and  purplish-cinnamon,  changing  on  the  after  parts  into  ashy  above 
and  yellow  and  white  below ;  wings  and  tail  gray ;  tail  tipped  with  yellow. 

Xest.  —  Bulky ;  from  six  to  fifteen  feet  up  in  an  orchard  or  shade  tree ;  composed 
of  weeds,  grass,  roots,  bark,  leaves  and  twigs. 

Eggs.  —  Light  bluish,  marked  with  black  and  indistinct  bluish  spots. 

Season.  — Eesident. 

This  common  bird,  so  richly  endowed  with  beauty  and 
grace,  is  no  songster.  Its  charm  consists  in  its  elegant  shape 
and  its  softness  of  plumage,  with  its 
insensible  changes  from  one  lovely 
tint  to  another.  It  moves  about  in 
silence,  save  as  it  utters  a  lisping, 
f*  beady  "  note  or  a  "  hushed  whistle." 
Mr.  Xehrling  says  that  both  male 
and  female  sing.  I  cannot  doubt 
that  he  has  heard  this  song,  but 
from  my  own  experience  I  am 
led  to  believe  that  it  is  rare  in 
Massachusetts. 

The  Cedar  Bird  gets  its  name  Fig.  74.  -  cedar  Bird,  one-half 
from  its  habit  of  feeding  on  cedar 

berries  in  fall  and  winter.  It  often  may  be  found  on  some 
parts  of  Cape  Cod  during  the  colder  months.  It  is  some- 
times seen  in  other  parts  of  the  State  in  winter,  and  is  at- 


210  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


tracted  by  the  berries  of  the  mountain  ash.  The  northward 
migration  is  usually  under  way  in  March,  but  comparatively 
few  birds  are  ordinarily  seen  in  central  Massachusetts  until 
late  in  May.  In  spring  and  early  summer  they  seem  to  feed 
almost  entirely  on  insects.  They  are  always  plentiful  at  this 
season  in  a  cankerworm  year,  and  they  deserve  at  such 
times  the  local  name  of  "cankerworm  birds,"  for  they  fre- 
quent infested  orchards  in  large  flocks,  and  fill  themselves 
with  the  worms  until  they  can  eat  no  more.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  countless  thousands  of  caterpillars  that  they 
destroy  more  than  compensate  for  the  cherries  they  eat, 
although  in  some  seasons  they  are  very  destructive  to  cherries. 
Such  little  gluttons  rarely  can  be  found  among  birds.  The 
Cedar  Bird  seems  to  have  the  most  rapid  digestion  of  any 
bird  with  which  experiments  have  been  made.  Audubon 
said  that  Cedar  Birds  would  gorge  themselves  with  fruit 
until  they  could  be  taken  by  hand  ;  and  that  he  had  seen 
wounded  birds,  confined  in  a  cage,  eat  of  apples  until  suffo- 
cated. They  will  stuff  themselves  to  the  very  throat.  So, 
wherever  they  feed,  their  appetites  produce  a  visible  effect. 
Professor  Forbes  estimates  that  thirty  Cedar  Birds  will 
destroy  ninety  thousand  cankerworms  in  a  month.  This 
calculation  seems  to  be  far  within  bounds. 

Cedar  Birds  are  devoted  to  each  other  and  to  their  young. 
Sometimes  a  row  of  six  or  eight  may  be  seen,  sitting  close 

together  on  a  limb,  passing 
and  repassing  from  beak  to 
beak  a  fat  caterpillar  or  juicy 
cherry.  I  have  seen  this 
touching  courtesy  but  once, 
and  believe  it  was  done  not 
so  much  from  politeness  as 

Fie.  75.  —  Passing  the  cherry.  ,,  ,         ,,      .      .,  ., 

from    the  fact  that  most  of 

the  birds  were  so  full  that  they  had  no  room  for  more,  — a 
condition  in  which  they  can  afford  to  be  generous.  Never- 
theless, the  manner  in  which  it  is  done,  and  the  simulation 
of  tender  regard  and  consideration  for  each  other  exhibited, 
render  it  a  sight  well  worth  seeing.  They  also  have  a  habit 
of  "  billing,"  or  saluting  one  another  with  the  bill. 


SONG-   BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       211 


The  food  of  these  birds  has  been  much  discussed,  and  it 
has  been  clearly  shown  that  they  eat  a  larger  proportion  of 
fruit  and  a  smaller  proportion  of  insects  than  most  birds. 
Here  in  Massachusetts  they  often  merit  the  name  of  Cherry 
Birds,  for  they  descend  on  the  cherry  trees  in  considerable 
flocks,  and  destroy  a  large  quantity  of  fruit.  Professor  Beal, 
however,  in  examining  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  stomachs, 
found  that  only  nine  birds  had  eaten  cultivated  cherries,  and 
that  more  than  half  the  food  consisted  of  wild  fruit. 

Mrs.  Marv  Treat  writes  of  a  town  in  which  the  elms  had 
been  defoliated  for  several  years  by  the  elm-leaf  beetle,  but 
the  Cedar  Birds  came,  and 
the  trees  were  afterwards 
comparatively  free  from  the 
beetles.  During  the  time 
when  the  adult  birds  feed  on 
cherries,  the  young  are  fed 
very  largely  upon  insects, 
although  fruit  is  given  them 
as  they  grow  older.  These 
birds  feed  so  much  on  wild 
fruit  as  it  ripens,  that  it  con- 
stitutes nearly  seventy-five 
per  cent,  of  their  food ;  but 


Fig.  76.  —Good  work  in  the  orchard. 


later,  after  the  young  are  reared,  they  turn  flycatchers,  and 
taking  a  high  perch  on  some  tree  near  a  lake  or  river  or 
on  the  borders  of  the  woods,  they  sally  out  after  flying 
insects.  Grasshoppers,  beetles,  crickets,  ichneumon  flies, 
crane  flies,  and  lacewings  are  all  devoured  by  them.  Bugs 
and  bark  lice  are  also  on  the  bill  of  fare.  While  these  birds 
are  sometimes  a  pest  to  the  fruit  grower,  they  are,  on  the 
whole,  beneficial  to  agriculture,  and  deserve  protection. 

TANAGERS. 

This  group  of  brilliant  woodland  birds  is  represented  here 
by  but  two  species  ;  one  of  these,  the  Summer  Tanager,  is 
very  rarely  seen  ;  the  common  Scarlet  Tanager  is  one  of 
the  most  valuable  birds  of  orchard  and  woodland. 


212  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


Scarlet  Tanager. 

Piranga  erythromelas. 

Length.  —  About  seven  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Entire  body  bright  scarlet;  wings  and  tail  black;  in  autumn  much 

like  female,  but  retaining  the  black  on  wings  and  tail. 
Adult  Female.  —  Greenish  above;  yellowish  below;  wings  and  tail  darker  and 

brown-tinged. 
Nest.  —  Of  fine  twigs  and  straws;  usually  in  lower  branches  of  some  large  tree, 

but  sometimes  fully  twenty  feet  up ;  occasionally  in  the  orchard. 
Eggs.  —  Light  greenish-blue,  with  brown  and  purplish  markings. 
Season.  —  May  to  October. 

This  most  gorgeous  of  New  England  birds  flashes  through 
the  trees  like  a  brand  plucked  from  tropical  flame  ;  but  it 
is  a  distinctly  North  American  species,  going  south  only  in 


Fig.  77.  —  Scarlet  Tanagers  (male  and  female)  and  gipsy  moth  caterpillars. 

its  fall  migration,  and  returning  to  its  chosen  northern  home 
in  the  spring.  The  Tanager  is  a  bird  of  large  deciduous 
woods,  and  is  less  common  among  great  tracts  of  pines, 
hemlocks,  and  other  coniferous  trees,  although  it  is  often 
seen  in  small  groves  of  these  trees,  and  sometimes  nests 
there.  The  oaks  are  its  first  favorites,  and  wherever  there 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   213 

are  large  groves  of  white  oaks  Tanagers  are  sure  to  come. 
They  also  frequent  the  detached  oaks  that  are  found  in  pas- 
tures near  woodland.  The  chestnut  is  another  favorite  tree. 

This  bird  seems  to  have  increased  somewhat  in  numbers 
within  the  last  forty  years,  and  for  at  least  twenty  years  has 
been  common  and  sometimes  abundant  in  the  greater  part 
of  Massachusetts.  It  is  somewhat  local,  however,  and  is 
rarely  as  common  anywhere  as  the  Robin  or  Song  Sparrow. 
It  is  distinctly  an  arboreal  bird,  and  seeks  its  food  mainly 
among  the  foliage  of  trees,  where  from  the  higher  branches 
its  song  may  be  most  often  heard.  The  lay  resembles 
somewhat  that  of  a  Robin,  but  is  shorter  and  less  varied, 
with  a  little  apparent  hoarseness  or  harshness  in  the  tone. 
Gentry's  rendering  of  the  song  as  chl-chl-chy-char-ee,  char- 
ee-cM,  represents  it  fairly  well.  At  times  it  seems  ventri- 
loquial,  and  the  bird  is  difficult  to  find,  for  its  brilliant 
plumage  is  not  so  conspicuous  among  the  shadows  of  the 
foliage  as  one  would  naturally  expect  to  find  it.  It  sings  at 
intervals  all  through  the  day,  but  more  often  at  early  morning 
and  at  night.  A  sudden  noise,  like  a  shout  or  the  rumbling 
of  a  carriage  along  the  road,  sometimes  startles  the  Tanager 
into  song,  or  brings  out  the  alarm  note,  chip,  churr,  or  the 
sharp  chip  uttered  by  this  bird. 

After  the  leaves  have  attained  their  full  size,  the  Tanager, 
which  feeds  mostly  in  the  trees,  is  hidden  much  of  the  time 
by  the  foliage  of  the  tree  tops,  and  so  is  seldom  seen  except 
by  those  who  know  its  notes  and  are  looking  for  it.  For  this 
reason  it  is  commonly  considered  rare. 

In  its  food  preferences  the  Tanager  is  the  appointed  guard- 
ian of  the  oaks.  It  is  drawn  to  these  trees  as  if  they  were 
magnets,  but  the  chief  attraction  seems  to  be  the  vast  num- 
ber of  insects  that  feed  upon  them.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
of  all  the  many  hundreds  of  insects  that  feed  upon  the  oaks 
few  escape  paying  tribute  to  the  Tanager  at  some  period 
of  their  existence.  We  are  much  indebted  to  this  beautiful 
bird  for  its  share  in  the  preservation  of  these  noble  and 
valuable  trees.  It  is  not  particularly  active,  but,  like  the 
Vireos,  it  is  remarkably  observant,  and  slowly  moves  about 
among  the  branches,  continually  finding  and  persistently  de- 


214  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


stroying  those  concealed  insects  which  so  well  escape  all  but 
the  sharpest  eyes.  Nocturnal  moths,  such  as  the  Catocalas, 
which  remain  motionless  on  the  tree  trunks  by  day,  almost 
invisible  because  of  their  protective  coloring,  are  captured 
by  the  Tanager.  Even  the  largest  moths,  like  cecropia  and 
luna,  are  killed  and  eaten  by  this  indefatigable  insect  hunter. 
Mr.  C.  E.  Bailey  once  told  me  that  he  saw  a  male  Tanager 
swallow  a  luna  moth  nearly  entire,  removing  only  one  of  the 
insect's  wings  in  the  process ;  but  this  haste  may  have  been 
caused  by  the  attempts  of  several  other  birds  to  take  his  prey 
from  him.  Mr.  Bailey  brought  me  the  wing  of  the  moth  that 
was  dropped,  lest  its  identity  should  be  questioned.  I  once 
saw  a  male  Tanager  swallow  what  appeared  to  be  a  hellgra- 
mite  or  dobson  (Corydalus  cornutus)  head  first  and  appar- 
ently entire,  though  not  without  much  effort.  No  one  who 
will  examine  the  plate  of  the  luna  moth,  opposite  this  page, 
can  fail  to  appreciate  the  capacity  of  the  Tanager.  It  is 
difficult  to  see  how  the  bird  can  accomplish  such  feats  of  deg- 
lutition. As  a  caterpillar  hunter  the  bird  has  few  superiors. 
It  is  often  very  destructive  to  the  gipsy  moth,  taking  all 
stages  but  the  eggs,  and  undoubtedly  will  prove  equally 
useful  against  the  brown-tail  moth.  Leaf-rolling  caterpillars 
it  skillfully  takes  from  the  rolled  leaves,  and  it  also  digs  out 
the  larvae  of  gall  insects  from  their  hiding  places.  Many 
other  injurious  larvae  are  taken.  Wood-boring  beetles,  bark- 
boring  beetles,  and  weevils  form  a  considerable  portion  of 
its  food  during  the  months  when  these  insects  can  be  found. 
Click  beetles,  leaf-eating  beetles,  and  crane  flies  are  greedily 
eaten.  These  beneficial  habits  are  not  only  of  service  in 
woodlands,  but  they  are  exercised  in  orchards,  which  are 
often  frequented  by  Tanagers.  Nor  is  this  bird  confined  to 
treea,  for  during  the  cooler  weather  of  early  spring  it  goes 
to  the  ground,  and  on  plowed  lands  follows  the  plow  like  the 
Blackbird  or  Robin,  picking  up  earthworms,  grubs,  ants,  and 
ground  beetles.  Grasshoppers,  locusts,  and  a  few  bugs  are 
taken,  largely  from  the  ground,  grass,  or  shrubbery. 

Some  useful  ichneumon  flies  are  destroyed,  and  a  few 
spiders  and  their  eggs.  Nuttall  says  that  Tanagers  eat 
whortleberries  and  seeds,  but  so  far  as  my  observations  and 


SON  a  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   215 

dissections  go  the  bird  seems  to  be  almost  entirely  insectiv- 
orous, and  in  every  way  one  of  the  most  desirable  species 
of  woodland,  orchard,  and  field. 

FINCHES,  GROSBEAKS,    AND   TOWHEES. 

The  Finch  and  Sparrow  family  is  larger  in  numbers  of 
both  species  and  individuals  than  any  other  family  of  Xorth 
American  birds  ;  but  comparatively  few  of  the  species  dwell 
and  feed  in  orchard  or  woodland.  The  Pine  Grosbeaks, 
Pine  Finches,  Redpolls,  and  Crossbills  are  forest  birds  ;  but 
they  come  here  from  the  north  mainly  during  the  colder 
months  of  the  year,  when  they  feed  largely  on  the  seeds 
of  trees,  and  are  not  particularly  useful.  There  are  only 
three  common  species  belonging  to  the  Sparrow  family  that 
habitualty  live  in  or  near  woods,  and  even  these  are  often 
found  in  orchards  and  small  groves.  Most  of  the  Sparrows 
find  a  large  part  of  their  food  on  the  ground  or  near  it.  They 
all  have  strong,  rigid,  conical  beaks,  and  muscular  gizzards  ; 
all  are  seed  eaters,  and,  as  the  family  feeds  to  a  great  extent 
on  the  seeds  of  weeds  and  grasses,  they  live  mainly  in  or 
near  open  fields.  A  few,  such  as  the  Chipping  Sparrow,  the 
Purple  Finch,  and  the  Goldfinch,  build  their  nests  in  trees. 
But  these  get  a  large  part  of  their  food  in  pastures,  fields,  or 
gardens.  The  Goldfinch  and  Purple  Finch,  however,  live  so 
much  in  trees  that  they  may  well  be  included  among  the 
birds  of  woodland  and  orchard ;  while  the  Rose-breasted 
Grosbeak  and  the  Towhee  are  entitled  to  be  known  as  wood- 
land birds,  although  often  seen  in  orchard  or  garden. 

The  Goldfinch  and  the  Purple  Finch  are  more  in  the 
orchard  and  less  in  woodland  than  the  Grosbeak  and  the 
Towhee.  In  spring  and  summer  these  finches  feed  on  many 
orchard  caterpillars.  The  Towhee  is  found  mostly  in  young 
coppice  growth,  in  thickets  on  the  borders  of  woodland,  and 
in  briery  tangles,  but  seldom  in  deep,  dark  woods.  These 
four  species  of  this  family  perform  essential  service  for  trees. 
The  Towhee  works  on  the  ground  and  among  the  smaller 
sprouts,  and  the  others  work  more  among  trees  of  larger 
growth. 


216  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Rose-breasted  Grosbeak. 

Zamelodia  ludoviciana. 

Length.  —  Seven  and  three-fourths  to  eight  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult  Male.  — Above,  mainly  black ;  the  black  of  head  extending  around  under 
throat;  wings  and  tail  white-marked;  rump  white;  upper  tail  coverts 
black  and  white;  below,  mainly  white;  middle  breast  and  under  wing 
coverts  rose-red ;  the  large  bill  appears  white  from  below. 

Adult  Female.  —  The  black  of  the  male  largely  replaced  by  brown,  except  on 
throat,  which  is  white ;  line  over  eye  and  space  in  front  of  eye  white  or 
whitish;  a  streak  on  crown  also  whitish,  mixed  with  brown;  no  white  on 
rump  or  tail ;  no  rose  on  breast,  and  that  under  wings  replaced  by  yellow. 

Nest.  —  Built  of  twigs,  fibers,  and  grasses ;  loosely  made  in  bush  or  sapling,  from 
five  to  twenty  feet  or  more  from  ground. 

Eggs. — Varying  in  color  from  pale  greenish-blue  to  dull  green ;  -thickly  marked 
with  coarse  spots  of  various  shades  of  brown  and  purplish. 

Season.  —  Early  May  to  September. 

The  Rose-breasted  Grosbeak  should  be  accorded  the  most 
cordial  welcome  wherever  it  appears ;  for  not  many  birds 
have  such  beauty  of  plumage  and  song,  and  at  the  same 
time  such  useful  habits. 

This  is  one  of  the  few  birds  that  has  increased  in  numbers 
within  the   past  forty  years  to 
such  an  extent  that  it   is  now 
found  commonly  in  woods  and 
thickets  where  many  years  ago 
it  was  considered  rare.     It  is 
common,    too,    about    the    fields    and 
gardens.     Its  sweet  warbling  may  be 
heard  from  the  tall  shade  trees  of  the 
Fig.  78.  —  Rose-breasted     village  street.     The  introduction  and 
Grosbeak,  male,  about     spread  of  the  Colorado  potato  beetle, 

one-half  natural  size.  * 

which  reached   Massachusetts  about 

thirty  years  ago,  may  have  had  something  to  do  with  this 
increase  in  the  number  of  Grosbeaks,  for  they  are  among  the 
few  birds  that  will  eat  this  beetle.  They  seek  the  beetles 
so  assiduously  everywhere  that  they  are  often  locally  known 
as  "  potato  bug  birds."  This  Grosbeak  has  now  become  com- 
mon throughout  most  of  Massachusetts,  except  on  Cape  Cod. 
The  common  note  of  this  bird  is  a  thin,  sharp  eek,  quite  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  any  other  eastern  bird.  The  song  is  a 
strong,  rolling  carol,  somewhat  like  that  of  the  Robin  in 


BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       217 


tone,  but  much  purer  and  of  far  finer  quality.  It  seems  to 
convey  to  the  listener  not  so  much  the  bright  good  cheer  of 
the  Robin,  as  a  sort  of  pure  joy,  expressed  in  most  exqui- 
sitely liquid  tones. 

In  May,  when  the  Grosbeaks  are  mating,  two  or  more  of 
the  males  sometimes  engage  in  fierce  and  even  bloody  battles 
for  the  favors  of  some  coveted  female.  At  such  times  the 
males  join  in  a  general  melee,  warbling  meanwhile  their 
choicest  strains,  until  the  weaker  come  to  the  ground  ex- 
hausted, while  the  strong  and  favored  bird  leads  his  chosen 
bride  away  in  triumph. 

I  well  recall  the  day  when,  as  a  boy,  I  first  found  the  nest 
of  this  bird,  built  high  in  an  alder  bush  by  a  little  run,  on 
the  edge  of  some  great  chest- 
nut woods.  A  black-and-white 
bird  of  striking  appearance  sat 
on  the  nest,  covering  the  eggs, 
and  manifesting  no  alarm  at  my 
presence.  I  thought  it  a  new 
species,  for  there  was  certainly 
no  female  Grosbeak  of  that  color 
in  the  books.  The  mystery 

Was    Solved    when    the    bird    left       Fig.  79.  —  Rose-breasted  Grosbeak, 

the  nest.     It  was  the  first  time 

I  had  discovered  a  male  bird  incubating.  The  Grosbeak  is 
a  gallant  fellow,  and  relieves  his  mate  of  a  large  part  of  her 
duties.  He  is  very  affectionate  and  attentive.  He  sings 
while  sitting  on  the  nest,  perhaps  to  while  away  the  time,  or 
to  let  his  mate  know  that  he  is  at  his  post.  When  danger 
is  near  he  subdues  his  tone,  until  the  song,  pure  and  clear 
as  ever,  seems  to  come  from  far  away.  It  dies  down  almost 
to  a  whisper,  and  then,  as  the  danger  passes,  rises  again  to 
its  full  power.  He  is  a  model  husband  and  a  good  father. 

The  Grosbeak  gets  its  food  largely  among  the  trees,  seek- 
ing it  from  the  ground  upward  to  the  tallest  tree  top.  Had 
this  bird  acquired  the  habit  of  feeding  on  any  of  the  products 
of  the  farm  or  orchard,  it  might  easily  become  a  pest,  as  its 
large  size,  robust  appetite,  and  strong  beak  would  make  it 
a  formidable  enemy  to  growing  vegetables,  grain,  or  fruit. 


218  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Its  bill  seems  well  fitted  to  wrench  out  the  seeds  of  coniferous 
trees  from  their  cones,  but  a  large  part  of  its  summer  food 
consists  of  insects,  among  them  many  of  the  greatest  pests 
of  woodland,  orchard,  and  garden.  Hairless  caterpillars  are 
continually  sought.  Much  skill  is  evinced  in  extracting  leaf- 
rollers.  The  bird  has  been  seen  feeding  to  some  extent  on 
the  caterpillars  of  the  gipsy  moth  and  the  tussock  moth.  It 
is  fond  of  beetles  and  their  larvae,  particularly  those  of  leaf- 
eating  and  wood-boring  species.  Dr.  Warren  found  a  few 
wasps  and  flies  among  the  food  of  this  bird.  In  early  spring 
the  eggs  and  hibernating  pupae  of  insects  are  taken  from 
crevices  in  the  bark.  On  the  ground  the  Grosbeak  finds 
large  caterpillars  like  the  army  worm,  and  some  grasshoppers 
and  locusts.  Here  also  it  eats  the  seeds  of  weeds.  Professor 
Beal  says  that  he  examined  the  stomachs  of  a  few  birds  that 
were  shot  while  eating  green  peas,  but  that  the  stomachs 
contained  enough  potato  beetles,  old  and  young,  as  well  as 
other  harmful  insects,  to  pay  for  all  the  peas  the  birds  would 
be  likely  to  eat  in  a  whole  season. 

The  Grosbeak  eats  wild  berries,  and  the  seeds  of  the 
alder  and  birch.  The  fact  that  it  takes  buds  and  the  ovaries 
of  the  blossoms  of  fruit  trees  leads  Minot  to  regard  it  as  an 
enemy  to  agriculture  ;  but  Mr.  Brewster  says  truly  that  such 
pruning  is  seldom  more  severe  than  that  practised  by  a  thrifty 
horticulturist.  The  office  performed  by  the  Grosbeak,  with 
its  strong,  cutting  beak,  is,  as  has  been  hereinbefore  stated, 
merely  a  part  of  nature's  pruning,  which,  though  sometimes 
drastic,  still  in  the  long  run  benefits  rather  than  injures  the 
trees. 

Towhee.     Chewink.     Ground  Robin. 

Pipilo  erythrophlhalmus. 

Length.  —  From  about  eight  to  eight  and  three-fourths  inches. 
Adult  Male.  —  Head,  all  round,  neck  and  chest,  wings  and  tail  black;  the  two 

latter  white-marked ;  sides  and  flanks  chestnut ;  breast  and  belly  white. 
Adult  Female.  —  Brown  replacing  the  black  of  the  male. 
Nest.  —  On  ground;  usually  sunken  and  often  roofed  over. 
Eggs.  — White,  rather  finely  and  evenly  spotted  with  light  ashy  and  brown. 
Season.  —  The  latter  part  of  April  to  October,  rarely  remaining  all  winter  in 

southeastern  Massachusetts. 

This  common  and  well-known  bird  always  may  be  found 
in  its  season  in  sprout  lands  and  thickets,  where  it  scratches 


SONG   BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       219 

among  the  dry  leaves  on  the  ground.  Like  many  other 
Sparrows,  it  scratches  with  both  feet  at  once,  jumping  into 
the  air  and  digging  away  the  leaves  with  a  quick  motion  of 
the  feet,  then  brings  its  feet  deftly  under  its  body  and  lands 
on  them.  When  disturbed  it  darts  into  a  bush,  with  a  whir 


Fig.  8O.  —  Towhee,  male,  about  one-half  natural  size. 

of  wings,  a  flash  of  black,  white,  and  chestnut,  a  quick  flirt 
of  its  long  tail,  and,  with  crest  slightly  erected,  sends  back  its 
call  towJiee',  or  the  more  nasal  cheewink1 ,  or  kriink' .  Its  song 
as  commonly  sung  may  be  rendered  dick'  you,  fiddle-iddle, 
iddle,  iddle,  iddle.  The  first  two  notes  are  sometimes  com- 
bined in  a  de'ak,  but  whether  dick  or  the  deacon  is  addressed, 
he  is  adjured  to  fiddle.  The  last  notes  run  into  a  trill. 

The  Chewink  rarely  goes  into  the  tree  tops,  though  it 
often  perches  on  the  top  of  some  small  sapling  while  singing. 
Its  food  is  obtained  mainly  from  the  ground,  the  shrubbery, 
and  as  high  up  the  tree  trunks  as  it  can  reach  or  jump. 
While  scratching  and  digging  among  the  leaves  in  early 
spring  it  unearths  many  dormant  insects,  and  disposes  of 
them  ere  they  have  an  opportunity  to  propagate  their  kind. 


220  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Many  beetle  larvae  are  thus  found,  among  them  the  white 
grub  of  the  May  beetle.  The  bird  finds  many  ground  beetles 
and  ants ;  it  picks  up  the  mature  forms  of  Arctians,  many 
of  the  smaller  nocturnal  moths,  and  many  hairy  caterpillars. 
When  it  lives  near  gardens  or  cultivated  fields  it  is  said  to  feed 
on  such  pests  as  potato  beetles  and  cabbage  worms.  Grass- 
hoppers and  cockroaches  are  eaten,  also  flies  and  earthworms. 
The  vegetable  food  of  this  bird  consists  largely  of  fruit  and 
weed  seeds.  It  has  been  accused  of  pulling  corn  in  some 
localities  ;  but  this  habit  probably  occurs  rarely,  though  its 
strong  bill  enables  it  to  crack  and  devour  hard  corn.  Wild 
berries  are  much  eaten  in  summer.  The  only  cultivated  fruit 
I  ever  knew  this  bird  to  take  was  the  gooseberry,  a  few 
of  which  it  picked  up  from  the  ground  where  they  had 
dropped. 

Purple  Finch.     Crimson  Finch.     Red  Linnet.     Gray  Linnet. 
Carpodacus  purpureus. 

Length.  —  About  six  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Entire  body  suffused  with  tints  varying  from  reddish-brown  to 

rose-red  or  wine-purple,  "  like  a  brown  bird  dipped  in  diluted  pokeberry 

juice,"  as  Burroughs  says. 
Adult  Female.  —  Olive-grayish;  streaked  above  and  below  with  dusky.     The 

young  male  is  much  like  the  female. 
Nest.  —  Usually  at  no  great  height,  on  coniferous  trees ;  made  of  grass,  twigs,  and 

fibers,  lined  with  horsehair. 

Eggs.  —  Pale  greenish,  spotted  and  scratched  with  purplish-brown  and  black. 
Season. — Resident;  but  irregular  in  winter. 

The  Purple  Finch  is  naturally  a  bird  of  the  woods,  but  it 
has  learned  to  love  the  vicinage  of  human  habitations,  and 
lives  about  orchards  or  in  groves  or  shade  trees  on  well-kept 
estates,  and  is  more  commonly  seen  in  such  situations  than 
in  the  woods. 

The  species  is  gregarious,  and  sometimes  during  the  mi- 
grations or  in  winter  they  may  be  seen,  in  flocks  of  twenty 
to  fifty  individuals,  roaming  the  country  in  search  of  the 
berries  and  seeds  of  which  they  are  fond.  The  ordinary 
note  is  a  sharp,  hard  chip,  and  they  call  to  each  other  with 
a  note  which  resembles  the  syllables  pe-icee'.  The  song  of 
the  male  is  a  sudden,  joyous  burst  of  melody,  vigorous,  but 


SONQ   BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       221 


clear  and  pure,  to  which  no  mere  words  can  do  justice. 
When,  filled  with  ecstasy,  he  mounts  in  air  and  hangs  with 
fluttering  wings  above  the  tree  where  sits  the  one  who  holds 
his  affections,  his  efforts  far  transcend  his  ordinary  tones, 
and  a  continuous  melody  flows  forth,  until,  exhausted  with 
his  vocal  effort,  he  sinks  to  the  level  of  his  spouse  in  the 
tree  top.  This  is  a  musical  species, 
for  some  females  sing,  though  not 
so  well  as  the  males. 

This  Finch  appears  at  first  sight 
to  be  destructive,  for  it  devours  buds 
and  the  blossoms  of  apple,  cherry, 
peach,  and  plum  trees,  feeding  on 
the  stamens  and  pistils.  Often  I 
have  seen  a  party  of  these  birds 
thus  destroying  the  blossoms  of 
apple  trees,  and  scattering  the 
snowy  petals  about  in  a  shower. 
They  feed  also  upon  the  blossoms 
of  the  red  maple,  the  seeds  of  such 
trees  as  the  white  ash,  and  the  ber- 
ries of  the  red  cedar,  mountain  ash, 
and  other  trees.  But,  as  with  the 
Grosbeak,  the  pruning  or  cutting  of 
buds,  blossoms,  and  seeds  of  trees 
is  not  ordinarily  excessive.  On  the  other  hand,  this  bird 
eats  many  of  the  seeds  of  the  most  destructive  weeds,  rag- 
weed being  a  favorite.  The  Purple  Finch  also  destroys 
many  orchard  and  woodland  caterpillars.  It  is  particularly 
destructive  to  plant  lice  and  cankerworms.  Its  quest  of 
weed  seeds  is  sometimes  rewarded  by  some  insects  which  it 
finds  on  the  ground,  among  them  ground  beetles  and  perhaps 
a  fe\v  cutworms. 

If  a  bird  of  this  species  is  confined  in  a  trap  cage  in  spring, 
and  exposed  in  a  conspicuous  place,  most  of  the  Purple 
Finches  in  the  neighborhood  may  be  trapped.  The  greater 
part  of  the  "Linnets"  in  many  localities  have  been  taken  in 
this  way,  despite  the  law  and  its  officers,  who  are  on  the  look- 


Fig.  81.  — Purple  Finch,  male, 
about  one-half  natural  size. 


222 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


out  for  the  lawbreakers.  The  birds  have  been  sold  in  the  bird 
stores  or  sent  to  Europe  as  red  or  gray  Linnets.  This  may 
account  for  a  local  scarcity  of  this  Finch  in  some  places  where 
it  was  formerly  common. 

American  Goldfinch.     Yellow  Bird.     Wild  Canary.     Thistle  Bird. 

Astralaginus  tristis. 
Length.  — About  five  inches. 
Adult  Male.  —  Bright,  rich  canary-yellow;  crown  black;  wings  and  tail  black, 

white-marked. 
Adult   Female. — Above,   brownish-olive;  below,    grayish-white,    tinged  with 

yellow ;  wings  and  tail  much  like  those  of  male,  but  more  brownish. 
Young.  —  Much  like  female. 

Male  in  Winter.  —  Like  female,  but  retaining  his  black-and  white  wings  and  tail. 
Nest.  —  A  cup  of  grass  and  moss,  down-lined;  built  in  a  fork  or  branch-crotch 

from  six  to  forty  feet  up. 
Eggs.  —  Bluish-white. 
Season.  — Resident,  but  local  and  wandering  in  winter. 

The  Goldfinch  is  almost  as  well  known  as  the  Bluebird, 
and  is  even  more  brilliant  in  coloring.  Its  common  call, 
per-chic'-o-ree,  given  repeatedly,  as  it  bounds  through  the 

air  in  graceful  undula- 
tions, will  be  recognized 
by  all  who  are  at  all 
familiar  with  bird  life. 
This  bright  bird  wan- 
ders among  orchards  and 
groves,  and  flits  about 
the  fields,  pastures,  and 
gardens  long  after  other 
birds  have  begun  their 
family  cares  ;  for  it  is  not 
until  July  that  the  Gold- 
finch usually  undertakes 
to  build  its  nest.  Its 
brood  once  reared,  all  the 
members  of  the  family 
may  be  seen  wandering 
about  once  more.  In  the  garden  they  are  sometimes  known 
as  "salad  birds,"  for  they  are  particularly  attentive  to  nice, 
crisp  lettuce,  from  which  at  early  morning  they  drink  the  dew, 
and  perhaps  eat  a  few  tender  morsels,  no  doubt  paying  for 


Fig-  82.  — American  Goldfinch,  male, 
one-half  natural  size. 


SONG   BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       223 

them  by  destroying  some  of  the  insects  that  infest  the  garden. 
The  Goldfinches  are  almost  always  in  company,  and  commu- 
nicate with  each  other  often  with  the  most  delightful  cries  ;  a 
common  sweet  call  is  whew-ee' ',  whew-ee',  and  there  are  many 
Canary-like  tones.  The  song  of  the  male  is  sweet,  and  he 
more  nearly  merits  the  name  of  Wild  Canary  than  does  the 
Yellow  Warbler.  At  times  of  unusual  transport  the  singer 
rises  in  air  and  nutters  in  circles,  singing  a  sweeter  and  more 
varied  melody  than  that  usually  uttered  from  a  perch. 

The  food  of  the  Goldfinch  is  largely  that  of  a  typical 
Sparrow,  as  it  feeds  much  on  the  seeds  of  weeds.  Those 
seeds  that  are  furnished  with  down,  like  the  seed  of  the 
dandelion  and  thistle,  are  much  sought  after  by  this  bird. 
Mrs.  Mabel  Osgood  Wright  says  that  if  you  desire  the  pres- 
ence of  Goldfinches  in  the  garden  you  must  plant  sunflowers, 
zinnias,  and  coreopsis.  The  seeds  of  wild  clematis,  wild 
sunflowers,  and  ragweed  are  much  sought  by  them.  Gold- 
finches feed  their  young  largely  on  plant  lice,  caterpillars, 
small  grasshoppers,  and  beetles.  During  the  spring,  when 
unhampered  by  family  cares,  and  wandering  through  fields 
and  orchards,  they  feed  considerably  on  cankerworms.  They 
sometimes  frequent  grain  fields,  where  they  are  said  to  de- 
vour noxious  insects,  including  the  Hessian  fly.  Goldfinches 
often  feed  very  largely  in  winter  on  the  eggs  of  plant  lice  ; 
this  has  been  observed  many  times.  Mr.  Kirkland  exam- 
ined the  stomach  of  one  of  these  birds,  and  found  it  con- 
tained two  thousand,  two  hundred  and  ten  eggs  of  the  white 
birch  aphid.  Chermes  larcifolia  is  a  plant  louse  that  is 
common  on  larches.  It  deposits  great  numbers  of  stalked 
eggs  in  April  and  May,  which  produce  the  young  lice  that 
feed  on  the  trees  in  summer.  Mr.  Kirkland  saw  a  flock  of 
over  forty  Goldfinches  going  systematically  over  some  in- 
fested larch  trees,  beginning  at  the  top  of  a  tree  and  work- 
ing gradually  down  to  the  lower  branches,  then  repeating 
the  performance  on  the  next  tree.  They  subsist  largely  in 
winter  on  the  seeds  of  birches  and  those  of  the  button  bush, 
as  well  as  on  weed  seeds.  I  have  never  heard  of  their  trou- 
bling cultivated  fruit  or  doing  any  injury  except  by  pilfer- 
ing sunflower  seeds. 


224  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


BLACKBIRDS,  GRACKLES,  ORIOLES,  ETC. 

Only  two  (Orioles)  of  the  eight  Massachusetts  members 
of  this  family  are  distinctly  arboreal.  Although  all  the 
Blackbirds  feed  from  trees,  and  Grackles  nest  there,  they 
ordinarily  obtain  most  of  their  food  from  the  ground,  and 
so  must  be  considered  among  the  birds  of  garden,  field,  or 
swamp.  While  all  the  Blackbirds  congregate  in  large  flocks 
in  their  migrations,  the  Orioles  are  never  seen  in  such  flocks. 
The  Orchard  Oriole  is  so  rare  in  Massachusetts  as  to  be  of 
no  economic  importance.  This  leaves  but  one  species  to  be 
considered  among  the  birds  of  woodland  and  orchard. 


Baltimore  Oriole.     Golden  Robin.     Fire  Hang  Bird.     Hang    Nest. 
Icterus  galbula. 

Length,  — Seven  and  one-half  to  eight  inches. 

Adult  Male. — Head  and  neck  all  round,  upper  back,  wings,  and  tail  black; 
wings  marked  with  white ;  terminal  portions  of  three  outer  tail  feathers 
yellow ;  all  other  parts  yellow  to  intense  orange. 

Adult  Female.  —  Much  duller,  the  black  largely  replaced  by  brownish  and  the 
orange  mainly  by  yellowish-olive ;  throat  sometimes  marked  with  blackish. 

Immature  Males.  —  Resemble  the  female. 

Nest.  —  A  deep  pouch  (sometimes  covered,  with  the  entrance  on  the  side),  com- 
posed of  tough  fibers  and  long  hairs  interwoven ;  usually  hung  from  the 
terminal  twigs  of  elms,  but  often  in  small  fruit  trees. 

Eggs.  —  Bluish-white,  with  irregular  or  zigzag  lines  of  brown  or  black. 

Season.  —  May  to  September. 

This  abundant  and  familiar  species  may  be  found  wherever 
tall  elms  rear  their  heads  along  the  village  street.  Even  in 
the  smaller  cities  this  bird  manages  still  to  dwell,  despite 
the  obtrusive  Sparrow  and  prowling  cat.  Its  brilliant  plum- 
age and  wild,  free  notes  have  always  been  characteristic 
sounds  of  the  New  England  farmstead ;  for,  although  it 
prefers  the  elms,  it  frequents  other  shade  and  orchard  trees, 
and  even  goes  to  the  woods  for  food,  though  it  seldom  breeds 
there.  Orioles  increase  in  numbers  with  the  advance  of 
settlement  and  civilization. 

The  clear,  wild  calls  of  this  bird  are  as  well  known  as  its 
musical  song.  The  song,  however,  varies  so  much  in  tone 
and  rhythm  that  no  pen  can  ever  adequately  describe  its  many 
variations.  Nearly  every  male  has  a  distinctive  song  of  his 


SONG  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.   225 

own.  When  we  have  once  learned  to  recognize  the  song 
of  a  certain  individual  bird,  we  are  able  to  note  his  arrival 
annually.  An  Oriole  with  a  peculiar  song  nested  near  my 
home  in  Worcester  for  four  consecutive  years.  Only  last 
year  I  heard  a  new  bird-note  in  Andover,  and  found  that  the 
bird  was  a  Baltimore  Oriole, 
singing  a  song  unlike  that  of 
any  bird  of  any  species  that  I 
had  ever  heard  before. 

Its  pendulous  nest  is  usually 
suspended  in  such  a  manner 
that  its  natural  enemies  find  it 
difficult  of  access,  and  the  bird, 

a  A'aliailt  fighter,   does  not  hesi-       Fig.  83.— Baltimore  Oriole,  about 

tate  to  attack  its  enemies  with  one-haw  natural  size, 

its  sharp  beak,  — a  weapon  not  to  be  despised.  It  does  the 
fiercest  battle  with  the  Kingbird,  and  may  be  seen  some- 
times struggling  in  mid  air  with  this  doughty  adversary, 
until  both  birds  fall  to  the  ground  breathless  and  exhausted. 
It  sometimes  succumbs,  however,  to  the  swarming  numbers 
and  extreme  pugnacity  of  the ff  English  "  Sparrow,  and  where 
the  Sparrows  become  most  numerous  they  often  drive  out 
the  Orioles.  The  Oriole  itself,  however,  is  not  always  guilt- 
less in  respect  to  other  birds.  Occasionally  it  destroys  other 
nests,  either  to  get  material  for  building  its  own,  or  out  of 
pure  mischief.  Mr.  Mosher  observed  a  male  Oriole  attempt- 
ing to  drive  another  away  from  its  nest.  The  stranger  would 
make  a  rush  at  the  nest,  and  then  the  owner  would  grapple 
with  him.  This  running  fight  was  kept  up  for  fully  three 
hours.  In  the  mean  time  the  rogue  Oriole  went  to  a  Red- 
start's nest,  threw  out  the  eggs,  and  threw  down  the  nest. 
The  next  day  an  Oriole,  probably  the  same  bird,  was  seen 
to  throw  out  an  egg  from  a  Red-eyed  Yireo's  nest,  when  he 
was  set  upon  and  driven  away  by  the  owners.  Three  other 
instances  have  been  reported  to  me  by  trustworthy  observers 
who  have  seen  Orioles  in  the  act  of  destroying  the  nests  or 
eggs  of  other  birds  ;  but,  so  far  as  I  know,  few  writers  have 
recorded  such  habits,  and  they  are  probably  exceptional. 
Indeed,  the  Oriole's  bad  habits  seem  to  be  few.  It  occa- 


226 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


Fig.   84. -Pea 

weevil,  much 
enlarged. 


sionally  helps  itself  to  green  peas  ;  but  Dr.  Harris  tells  us, 
in  his  work  on  insects  injurious  to  vegetation,  that  this 
Oriole  splits  open  the  green  pods  for  the  sake  of  the  weevil 
grubs  contained  in  the  peas,  thereby  greatly 
helping  to  prevent  the  spread  of  these  noxious 
insects.  Nuttall  says  that  it  takes  the  sac- 
charine nectar  from  fruit  blossoms.  It  eats 
cherries,  but  seems  to  prefer  Juneberries  and 
mulberries.  Professor  Beal  says  that  several 
Orioles  that  were  shot  in  cherry  trees  had 
no  cherries  in  their  stomachs,  but  some  seeds  of  Rubus  and 
Juneberries.  John  Burroughs  told  me  years  ago  that  it  was 
very  destructive  to  ripe  grapes  at  his  place  on  the  Hudson 
River,  but  I  have 
never  heard  of  its  in- 
juring grapes  in  Mas- 
sachusetts;  it  usually 
leaves  us  before  most 
grapes  are  ripe. 

Having  catalogued 
the  sins  of  this  bird, 
let  us  see  what  its 
good  qualities  are. 
Professor  Beal  finds 
that  eighty-three  and 
four-tenths  per  cent, 
of  the  Oriole's  food 
consists  of  animal 
matter,  caterpillars 
forming  thirty-four 
per  cent,  of  the 
whole.  Evidently 
the  Oriole  is  one  of 
the  first  among  the 
birds  known  to  de- 
stroy hairy  caterpillars,  and  for  this  alone  it  may  be  ranked 
as  one  of  the  chief  friends  of  the  orchardist  and  forester. 
The  tussock,  gipsy,  brown-tail,  tent,  and  forest  caterpillars, 


Fig.  85.  —  a,  I),  tent  caterpillars;  c,  eggs;  d,  cocoon. 
The  caterpillars  are  eaten  by  Orioles. 


SONG   BIRDS    OF   ORCHARD   AND    WOODLAND.       227 

the  fall  webAArorm,  and  even  the  spiny  caterpillar  of  the 
mourning  cloak  butterfly,  —  all  are  greedily  eaten  by  the 
Baltimore ;  and  it  does  not  usually  swallow  many,  but 
merely  kills  them  and  eats  a  small  portion  of  the  inner 
parts.  It  thus  destroys  many  more  than  would  be  needed 
to  satisfy  its  appetite  \vere  they  swallowed  Avhole,  Avhile  at 
the  same  time  no  recognizable  portion  of  the 
caterpillar  can  be  found  in  the  bird's  stomach. 
This  is  a  habit  about  which,  like  many  others, 
we  can  learn  only  by  observation.  Mr.  Xash 
received  a  number  of  reports  from  correspond- 
ents in  1900  regarding  the  clearance  of  tent 
caterpillars  from  trees  by  these  birds.  They  Fig.  se.-cnck 
Avere  watched  day  after  day,  and  in  the  end 
cleared  the  orchards  of  the  pests.  An  Oriole  was  seen  to 
finish  one  nest  of  small  caterpillars  and  begin  on  another 
wThile  the  observer  Avas  eating  his  breakfast.  Young  Ori- 
oles are  fed  very  largely  on  injurious  moths  and  caterpillars. 
The  Baltimore  Oriole  is  worth  its  Aveight  in  gold  for  its  ser- 
vices in  destroying  both  gipsy  and  brown-tail  moths.  The 
bird  is  particularly  fond  of  snap 
beetles  or  click  beetles,  the  par- 
ents of  the  destructive  wireworms. 
Professor  Beal  says  that  more  than 
fiAre  hundred  species  of  these 
beetles  are  found  in  North  Amer- 
87. —Cucumber  beetle,  nat-  ica,  and  their  larvse  are  exceed- 


Orioles-  of    plants,    particularly    to    corn, 

grass,  and  garden  crops.  As  they  attack  the  roots  or  work 
within  the  stalks,  they  are  very  difficult  to  control.  Many 
birds  eat  either  the  beetles  or  larvae  The  very  injurious 
May  beetles  and  other  leaf-eating  beetles  are  taken  by  the 
Oriole,  among  them  the  striped  squash  beetle  or  cucumber 
beetle,  one  of  the  most  destructive  pests  of  the  garden. 
Bagworms,  curculios,  wasps,  bugs,  plant  lice,  scale  insects, 
March  flies,  and  crane  flies  are  among  the  insects  eaten  by 
this  bird. 


228  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


The  following,  from  Mr.  Kirkland's  notes,  made  at  Mai- 
den in  1896,  shows  that  this  bird  is  of  value  in  woodlands,  for 
the  observations  were  made  in  the  woods  :  — 

A  sawfly  (probably  Selandria)  is  at  present  one  of  the  insects  most 
commonly  devoured  by  the  Baltimore  Oriole.  These  birds  are  very 
abundant  around  the  experiment  station,  and  I  have  repeatedly  seen  them 
feeding  upon  these  sawflies,  even  as  early  as  4.30  one  bright  morning. 
By  6  or  7  o'clock  these  birds  are  well  at  work,  feeding  around  the  build- 
ing. I  have  seen  them  eat  cankerworms,  and,  what  was  more  interesting, 
devour  a  large  Tortricid  larva,  which  rolls  the  leaves  of  the  white  oak. 
This  larva  rolls  the  leaf  around  itself,  thus  forming  a  kind  of  cylinder, 
within  which  it  feeds.  The  Orioles  put  their  bills  into  one  end  of  the 
cylinder  without  tearing  the  leaf,  and  pull  out  the  larva. 


PLATE   XIX.  —  Least  Flycatcher  on  Nest.     (Photograph,  from  life, 
by  J.  Chauncey  Lyford.) 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.  229 


CHAPTER   VL 

SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND. 
FLYCATCHERS. 

This  family  consists  of  crested  songless  birds,  that  watch 
from  dead  limbs,  posts,  or  other  exposed  perches,  and  take 
their  prey  mainly  on  the  wing.  They  usually  sit  rather 
upright,  with  tail  drooping,  and  wings  in  readiness  for 
instant  flight.  The  structure  of  the  Flycatcher's  bill  and 
mouth  is  admirably  adapted  for  the  capture  of  winged  insects. 
The  bill  is  wide  at  the  base,  and  the  gape  is  deep  and  sur- 
rounded by  so-called  "bristles,"  which  are  of  service  in  en- 
trapping flying  insects.  AVhile  some  species  take  nearly  all 
their  food  on  the  wing,  most  of  them  also  pick  up  insects 
from  trees,  shrubbery,  and  even  from  the  ground. 

Nine  species  are  found  in  Massachusetts,  but  only  four  of 
these  are  generally  common  summer  residents  ;  the  others 
are  either  migrants,  rare,  or  casual  or  local  residents. 

Least  Flycatcher.     Chebec. 
Empidonax  minimus. 

Length.  —  Between  five  and  five  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult.  —  Above,  usually  dark  olive-gray,  often  with  a  tinge  of  brown;  under 

parts  nearly  white,  shaded  on  the  sides  like  the  back ;  yellowish  on  belly ; 

a  broad  eye  ring  and  two  wing  bars  yellowish-white  or  grayish-white. 
Nest.  —  A  soft  cup ;  usually  in  a  crotch  of  bush  or  tree,  from  five  to  forty  feet 

from  the  ground. 
Eggs.  —  White. 
Season.  —  May  to  August. 

This  is  the  common  little  Flycatcher  of  the  orchard,  vil- 
lage, and  roadside.  Its  usual  note,  chebec',  one  of  the  char- 
acteristic sounds  of  May,  comes  before  the  apple  blossoms, 
as  a  promise  of  summer.  Few  of  these  birds  are  seen  early 
in  May,  while  the  weather  is  cool ;  but  the  first  warm,  south 
wind  usually  brings  a  multitude,  and  nearly  every  orchard 
harbors  a  pair  or  more.  The  bird  sits  quite  upright,  occa- 
sionally throwing  up  its  head  as  if  to  sing,  as  it  utters  its 


230  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


quick,  emphatic  note.  At  intervals  it  flits  out  after  its  fly- 
ing victims,  and,  returning  again  to  its  perch  on  some  old 
apple  tree,  awaits,  with  quivering  wings,  another  opportunity. 
It  prefers  open  woods  and  orchards,  or  shade  trees  growing 
on  dry  land,  rather  than  dense  forests  or  swamps.  It  is 
rather  pugnacious,  and,  though  it  rarely  molests  other  small 
birds  unless  they  encroach  on  its  domain,  it  is  very  brave 
in  defence  of  its  nest  and  young.  The  following,  from  Mr. 
Mosher's  notes,  shows  how  it  will  defend  its  rights  :  — 

MAY  15,  1899.  —  A  pair  of  Least  Flycatchers  had  just  begun  their 
nest  in  an  apple  tree  by  placing  some  bunches  of  cottony  material  and 
a  few  strings  and  straws.  A  female  Oriole,  happening  along,  appro- 
priated the  string  for  her  own  use,  and  carried  it  away.  The  Fly- 
catchers came  soon  after,  and  were  very  much  disturbed  on  finding  the 
nest  materials  scattered,  and  had  quite  a  talk  over  it.  In  a  few  moments 
the  Oriole  came  back  for  more  string,  when  both  Flycatchers  new  at  her 
and  snapped  their  bills  savagely  in  her  face.  The  Oriole  did  not  seem 
to  mind  them  much,  and  kept  on  going  toward  the  nest.  When  the 
Flycatchers  found  they  could  not  searcher  in  this  way,  they  both  attacked 
her  fiercely,  and  pulled  out  quite  a  number  of  feathers,  keeping  up  a 
steady  scold.  The  Oriole  attempted  to  retaliate,  but  when  she  attacked 
one  of  the  Flvcatchers  the  other  struck  her  from  the  other  side,  and 
several  times  she  was  knocked  completely  off  the  branch.  Finally  she 
beat  a  precipitate  retreat,  one  of  the  Flycatchers  chasing  her  out  of 
sight. 

The  call  note  of  the  Chebec  is  a  wit,  and  the  bird  has  a 
more  subdued  note,  &peu,  or  when,  often  several  times  re- 
peated. In  the  mating  season  the  male  sometimes  utters  a 
series  of  twittering  notes  while 
hovering  over  the  tree  in  which 
his  mate  is  sitting. 

Like  all  Flycatchers,  this  spe- 
cies catches  flies,  among  them 
the  common  house  fly,  and  also 
some  useful  parasitic  flies.  It 

Fig.  88.  — Gipsy  moth,  male,  natural        . 
size.    Often   caught   by  the   Least       IS    by    HO     means     COntined    to 

rlycatcher-  such  food,  however,  but  is  par- 

ticularly destructive  to  small  beetles  in  flight,  and  in  this 
respect  it  is  most  useful.  It  captures  many  moths,  partic- 
ularly those  species  that  fly  by  day,  as  the  gipsy  moth ;  but 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.  231 

it  also  picks  up  many  which  are  stirring  only  very  early  in 
the  morning  or  at  evening.  The  bird  watches  for  cater- 
pillars, and  when  it  sees  one  stir,  flies  from  its  perch  and 
snaps  up  the  luckless  creature.  This  bird,  in  common  with 
other  Flycatchers,  picks  up  many  caterpillars 
that,  to  escape  AYarblers  and  other  enemies, 
spin  down  on  their  webs  or  drop  from  the 
trees.  The  greatest  service  our  little  Fly-  kerworm,  nat- 
catcher  renders  to  man  consists  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  such  orchard  pests  as  boring  beetles,  bark  beetles, 
the  fly  of  the  railroad  worm,  codling  moths,  gipsy  moths, 
cankerworms,  and  other  caterpillars. 

Nuttall  says  that  when  the  young  are  out  of  the  nest  they 
move  about  in  company  with  the  old  birds,  eating  whortle- 
berries and  cornel  berries. 

Wood  Pewee. 

Contopus  virens. 

Length.  —  Six  to  about  six  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult.  —  Tail  notched ;  bill  black  above,  light  below ;  upper  parts  dark  brownish- 
gray;  two  whitish  wing  bars:  under  parts  whitish,  the  sides  washed  with 
dark  gray,  showing  a  light  line  down  the  centre  of  the  breast. 

Nest.  —  Rather  flat,  and  usually  saddled  on  a  nearly  horizontal  limb,  from  ten  to 
forty  feet  up,  beautifully  decorated  externally  with  lichens. 

Eggs.  —  Creamy  white  ;  handsomely  marked,  with  a  ring  of  dark  spots  around  the 
larger  end. 

Season.  —  May  to  September. 

The  "Wood  Pewee  is,  as  its  name  implies,  a  bird  of  either 
coniferous  or  deciduous  woodland  ;  but  it  seems  to  prefer 
the  more  open,  deciduous  woods,  particularly  the  oaks,  on 
which  its  nest  is  often  placed.  It  usually  perches  on  dead 
branches  at  some  height  from  the  ground,  and  flies  out  to 
some  distance,  taking  one  or  many  insects  at  each  sally. 

The  note  of  this  bird  is  one  of  the  characteristic  sounds  of 
the  forest  shades,  and  is  heard  throughout  the  day  in  those 
cool  retreats  where  the  heat  of  the  summer  sun  is  softened 
by  the  interposition  of  umbrageous  foliage.  Here,  where 
sunshine  and  shadow  fleck  the  leafy  ground,  the  Pe wee's  call 
sounds  ever  pensive,  sweet,  and  clear.  The  bird  is  thought 
by  some  to  be  of  a  sad  disposition  ;  but  the  sadness  of  its 
call,  which  harmonizes  so  well  with  its  forest  environment, 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


is  deceptive,  for  the  Pewee  is  evidently  happy,  and  delights 
in  its  plaintive  tones.  Its  common  call  is  pee'-a-icee' ,  fol- 
lowed frequently  by  pe'e'-er  ,  uttered  in  a  drawling  manner, 
and  with  considerable  intervals 
between  the  phrases.  Bendire 
says  that  the  male  has  a  low, 
twittering  warble  in  the  mating 
season.  The  bird  also  twits  and 
twitters  from  time  to  time. 
The  nest  merits  more  than  the  usual 
brief  description.  It  is  usually  saddled 
on  a  dead  limb,  the  outside  adorned, 
like  that  of  the  Hummingbird's  nest, 
with  crustaceous  lichens,  so  that  when 
seen  from  below  it  looks  like  a  knot  on 
the  branch.  It  is  largely  made  of  fine 
grasses  and  fibers,  and  often  lined  with 
them.  As  the  nest  is  not  deep,  and 
rests  on  the  top  of  the  branch,  the 
bottom  is  usually  so  thin  that  it  would 
fall  out  were  it  not  supported  by  the  bark. 

The  food  of  the  Pewee  consists  very  largely  of  flying 
insects,  but  it  often  flutters  about  the 
foliage,  picking  off  caterpillars  and  plant 
lice.  Daily  in  the  early  morning  and 
in  the  dusk  of  evening,  even  in  the  un- 
certain gloom  of  the  deep  woods,  this 
bird  pursues  its  prey  unerringly.  Fly- 
ing beetles  and  ants,  butterflies  and 

moths,  flies,  gnats,  mosquitoes, — all  are 
taken.  The  Pewee  is  useful  in  the  de- 
struction of  small  moths  and  their  larvre. 
The  male  cankerworm  moths,  tussock 
moths,  Tortricid  moths,  and  gipsy  moths 
are  commonly  eaten,  while  the  young  birds 
are  fed  largely  at  times  on  cankerworms. 
This  bird  takes  some  parasitic  flies,  and 
Bendire  records  an  instance  where  it  pil- 
fered young  trout  from  a  hatchery. 


Pig.  9O.  — Wood  Pewee, 
one-half  natural  size. 


Fig.  91.  — Tortricid  or 
leaf-rolling  moth,  natu- 
ral size. 


Fig.  92. —  Tussock 
or  vaporer  moth, 
natural  size. 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.  233 


Phoebe.     Phoebe   Bird.     Pewee.     Bridge  Pewee. 

Sayornis  phfjebe. 

Length.  —  About  seven  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Above,  dull  olive-brown  ;  head  dark,  almost  blackish  ;  sides,  and 

often  the  breast,  shaded  with  same ;  tail  notched ;  bill  entirely  dark. 
Xest.  —  Built  of  mud,  mossed  over;  grass  or  feather  lined;  placed  on  some  beam 

of  building  or  bridge,  under  the  edge  of  a  high  bank  or  rock,  or  in  a  cave. 
Eggs.  —  White. 
Season. — April  to  October. 

The  common  Phoebe  is  known  throughout  the  State.  It 
is  as  familiar  and  homelike  as  the  Swallows,  and  deserves 
all  the  regard  accorded  it  as  a  friend  to  man.  This  bird  feeds 
almost  entirely  upon  insects  ;  hence  its  pref- 
erence for  the  vicinity  of  water  and  its  ap- 
parent fondness  for  streams,  for  in  such 
locations  its  source  of  food  supply  is 
augmented  by  the  many  insects  that, 
like  mosquitoes,  pass  the  earlier  part 
of  their  lives  in  water,  and  emerge 
later  to  fly  about  within  range  of 
the  Phoebe's  quick  and  accurate 
eye.  Perched  on 
a  dead  twig,  a 
mullein  stalk,  a 
post,  or  some 
similar  vantage 
point,  Phoebe 

Fig.  93.  — Phoebe,  one-half  natural  size. 

scans    the    sur- 
rounding space  with  eager  eye,  marking  each  insect  that 
comes  within  her  field  of  vision ;  and  when  her  eye  rests  on 
one  she  covets,  be  it  beetle,  moth,  or  fly,  she  quickly  leaves 
her  perch  and  immolates  the  victim. 

This  Flycatcher,  unlike  the  Wood  Pewee,  hawks  about 
habitually  near  the  ground,  though  it  often  takes  a  higher 
perch  and  flight.  While  sitting  it  often  jets  the  tail,  throw- 
ing it  up  even  higher  than  it  is  represented  in  the  cut ;  but 
usually  the  tail  is  held  low.  The  Phoebe  utters  a  loud  chip, 
and  it  has  a  variety  of  softer  tones  ;  but  the  note  most  com- 
monly heard  may  be  given  phee'be,  phee'brizzy, — the  first 


234 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


Fig.  94.  — Moth  of  the  spring  cankerwonn ;  a, 
male;  b,  female;  c,  d,  e,  structural  details. 


wiry  note  of  each  phrase  longest,  and  heavily  accented  ;  the 
last  short,  and  with  a  falling  inflection.  In  the  early  spring 
this  bird  occasionally  flutters  about  in  a  circle  or  rises  high 
in  air,  repeating  its  notes  very  rapidly,  with  variations,  as 
if  attempting  a  flight-song.  The  Phoebe,  like  the  Wood 

Pewee,  is  able,  because 
of  some  peculiarity  of 
its  sight,  to  pursue  and 
catch  insects  in  the  dusk 
of  morning  or  evening. 
Its  note  is  among  the 
first  to  be  heard  on  a 
summer's  morning,  and 
may  even  mingle  with  the  last  notes  of  the  Owl  or  those  of 
the  Whip-poor-will.  I  have  heard  it  shortly  after  3.30  A.M. 
This  characteristic  makes  the  Phoebe  extremely  useful,  as  it 
is  thus  able  to  catch  such  nocturnal  moths  and  other  insects 
as  ordinarily  remain  hidden  in  daylight,  and  seldom  venture 
to  fly  except  in  dusk  or  darkness.  It  feeds 
on  a  variety  of  pests.  Among  them  are  the 
imported  elm-leaf  beetle,  the  striped  cucum- 
ber beetle,  the  cankerwonn  moth,  the  cut- 
worm moths,  the  brown-tail  and  the  gipsy 
moths. 

-n      -  -n      !         u       i  •       j         !  Fi«-  05. -Wood. 

Professor  Beal,  who  has  examined  a  large  boring  click 
number  of  Phoebes'  stomachs,  finds  the  bird  ^etie,  enlarged, 
to  be  almost  exclusively  insectivorous.  The  insects  eaten 
belong  mainly  to  noxious  species 
of  beetles,  including  May  beetles, 
click  beetles,  and  weevils,  grass- 
hoppers, wasps,  and  many  of  the 
flies  that  trouble  cattle.  The 
vegetable  food  is  unimportant, 
consisting  mainly  of  a  few  seeds, 
wild  cherries,  elderberries,  and 
juniper  berries.  Now  and  then  a  raspberry  or  blackberry 
is  taken.  In  the  spring  of  1868  Mr.  C.  J.  Maynard  found 
that  some  of  these  birds  had  their  stomachs  filled  with  haw- 
thorn berries.  Gentry  says  that  they  feed  on  horseflies, 


Fig.  96.  —  Brown-tail  moth. 


SONQLE8S  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.  235 

house  flies,  mosquitoes,  and  vast  numbers  of  moths  and  but- 
terflies in  both  larval  and  adult  stages.  Bendire  asserts  that 
Dr.  Ralph  told  him  that  in  Florida  the  Phoebe  alights  on  the 
backs  of  cattle  and  follows  them  around,  catching  the  flies 
on  the  animals,  and  fluttering  above  them  in  search  of  in- 
sects. The  only  harmful  habit  of  this  bird  that  I  have  heard 
of  is  also  mentioned  by  Bendire,  who  says  that  it  is  said  to 
eat  trout  fry. 

As  the  young  of  the  Phoebe  are  fed  enormous  numbers  of 
insects,  as  two  broods  are  raised  each  year,  and  as  in  settled 
districts  the  bird  has  largely  forsaken  its  natural  nesting 
places  for  the  habitations  of  man,  it  is  now  one  of  the  most 
beneficial  species.  From  year  to  year,  as  has  been  proven 
repeatedly,  the  bird  returns  to  its  favorite  haunts  ;  and  the 
young  birds,  though  driven  away  in  the  fall  by  the  parents, 
like  to  find,  when  possible,  a  nesting  site  near  their  old  home. 
This  gives  us  a  hint  which  may  be  utilized  to  increase  the 
numbers  of  these  birds  about  our  farms. 

Kingbird.     Bee  Martin. 
Tyrannus  tyrannus. 

Length.  —  About  eight  inches. 

Adult.  —  Above,  very  dark  gray,  crown  and  tail  nearly  black;  tail  feathers 

broadly  tipped  with  white;  a  concealed  orange  or  vermillion  patch   on 

crown ;  wing  feathers  and  outer  tail  feathers  white-edged ;  below,  white, 

darkening  on  sides  of  breast. 
Nest.  —  A  bulky  structure  of  straw,  rootlets,  strings,  feathers,  etc. ;  usually  from 

ten  to  twenty  feet  up  in  an  orchard  tree  in  field  or  pasture ;  sometimes  in 

a  bush  on  the  marshy  shore  of  a  pond  or  river ;  rarely  on  a  post,  bridge,  or 

building. 
Eggs.  —  Creamy  white,  heavily  marked  mainly  toward  the  larger  end  with  brown 

and  lilac. 
Season.  —  May  to  September. 

The  Kingbird  is  almost  as  well  known  as  the  Robin  or 
Bluebird.  It  is  common  throughout  most  of  the  State, 
except  in  heavily  wooded  regions.  Bold  and  fearless,  yet 
confident  of  man's  protection,  it  seems  to  prefer  the  neigh- 
borhood of  human  habitations.  It  seeks  its  winged  victims 
by  taking  its  stand  on  some  orchard  tree,  a  fence  wire,  a 
post,  or  even  a  telegraph  wire,  where  it  sits  turning  its  head 
from  side  to  side,  always  on  the  watch.  The  perfection  of 
this  bird's  sight  is  illustrated  by  a  statement  made  by  Miss 


236 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Florence  Merriam.  She  said  that  a  Kingbird  was  seen  to 
start  from  a  telegraph  pole  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet 
from  the  observer,  and  fly  to  within  twenty-five  feet  of  him, 
for  an  insect  that  was  invisible  to  the  man  at  that  distance. 
If  a  Crow  or  Hawk  comes  in  sight,  the  Kingbird  at  once 
launches  into  the  air  with  cries  of  fury,  and  chases  the  enemy 


Fig.  97.  — Kingbird,  one-half  natural  size. 

of  its  young  beyond  the  confines  of  its  chosen  domain.  Pro- 
fessor Beal  relates  an  instance  where  a  Hawk  that  had  stooped 
to  some  young  Turkeys  was  driven  away  by  a  pair  of  King- 
birds, and  forced  to  give  up  its  prey.  The  Kingbird  possesses 
such  remarkable  powers  of  flight,  and  is  so  quick  in  turning, 
that  under  favorable  conditions  it  can  with  impunity  strike 
the  swiftest  Hawk  and  get  away.  The  Kingbird's  endeavor 
is  to  rise  above  its  enemy  and  beat  it  toward  the  earth.  This 
is  its  only  feasible  plan.  I  once  saw  a  Kingbird  attack  a 
Cooper's  Hawk  that  was  flying  low  over  a  field.  The  small 
fighter  overtook  the  Hawk  at  once  and  landed  on  its  back, 
but  after  a  time  the  Hawk  managed  to  rise  to  some  height  and 
then  shot  off  diagonally  downward,  leaving  the  Kingbird  so 
fast  that  it  appeared  as  if  stationary  in  the  air.  This  suggests 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.  237 

what  might  possibly  happen  were  the  Hawk  to  rise  quickly 
above  its  adversary.  Nevertheless,  the  Kingbird  fears  him 
not.  If  an  Eagle  appears  near  the  Kingbird's  nest  he  is 
immediately  assailed  by  all  the  warrior  tribe  and  driven  in- 
gloriously  from  the  field.  The  Kingbird  thus  acts  as  pro- 
tector and  friend  to  its  weaker  neighbors  and  to  the  farmer's 
poultry  and  Pigeons. 

The  brave  bird  sometimes  does  not  hesitate  to  attack 
even  man  himself  in  defence  of  its  nest.  It  used  to  be  a 
favorite  pastime  with  the  boys  on  one  farm  to  throw  up  a 
hat  near  a  Kingbird's  nest  and  see  the  birds  attack  it.  I 
have  seen  a  boy  repeatedly  struck  on  the  head  by  the  parent 
birds  when  he  was  climbing  toward  their  nestful  of  young. 
Nevertheless,  the  Kingbird,  in  harrying  his  neighbors,  some- 
times meets  his  match  in  the  Catbird,  Oriole,  Martin,  or 
little  Hummingbird.  The  following  interesting  account  of 
the  nesting  of  a  Kingbird  in  a  rather  unusual  situation  is 
taken  from  Mr.  Kirkland's  notes  :  — 

JUNE  29,  1896.  —  Near  the  Shady  Hill  station,  Bedford,  Mass.,  a 
Kingbird  has  built  its  nest  directly  on  the  top  of  a  fence  post,  and  in  a 
location  where  there  is  no  shade  whatever  on  the  nest  during  the  middle 
of  the  clay.  The  fence  stands  beside  a  roadway,  where  in  early  sum- 
mer teams  pass  a  hundred  times  a  day.  The  fence  is  made  of  old  rail- 
road ties  or  posts,  with  barbed  wire  running  between  them.  The  nest 
is  on  the  corner  post,  and  from  this  corner  a  board  fence  extends  at 
right  angles  down  to  the  railroad  track.  The  top  of  the  post  on  which 
the  nest  is  located  is  about  six  by  eight  inches,  with  a  depression  in  the 
center  where  the  wood  has  decayed.  The  nest  occupies  this  depression, 
and  is  made  of  grass,  string,  and  cotton  waste.  At  the  time  of  my  visit 
to  Bedford  there  were  four  partly  fledged  young  in  the  nest,  and  these 
the  old  birds  were  constantly  feeding.  From  their  vantage  ground  on 
the  telegraph  wires  near  by  they  would  swoop  down,  catch  an  insect 
or  two,  and  then  fly  to  the  nest.  I  could  approach  within  six  feet  of 
the  birds.  I  was  told  by  Mr.  Beard,  owner  of  Shady  Hill  nurserv,  that 
during  the  hottest  weather  one  of  the  parent  birds  would  stand  over  the 
young  ones,  and,  with  wings  outstretched  and  vibrating,  would  shade 
them  and  keep  them  cool. 

In  this  large  nursery  there  were  many  small  trees,  but 
scarcely  a  tree  large  enough  for  the  Kingbird's  nest.  The 
insects  on  the  young  trees  probably  proved  so  attractive  as 


238  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


a  food  supply  that  the  birds  placed  their  nest  on  the  post, 
as  the  most  accessible  nesting  place  in  the  midst  of  plenty. 
Other  similar  instances  have  been  recorded. 

The  notes  of  this  bird  consist  of  a  series  of  shrill  and 
varied  twitters,  somewhat  resembling  those  of  a  Swallow. 
In  spring  it  often  mounts  into  the  air,  and,  rising  high,  fre- 
quently falls  for  a  distance  and  then  recovers  itself,  twit- 
tering fiercely  all  the  time,  as  if  engaged  with  an  imaginary 
antagonist.  It  appears  to  be  pursuing  insects,  which  it  some- 
times follows  to  considerable  heights,  and  having  a  frolic  at 
the  same  time.  In  warm  weather  it  will  sometimes  plunge 
into  the  water,  and,  rising  again,  shake  its  plumage  like  a 
Fish  Hawk. 

The  Kingbird,  although  primarily  a  feeder  on  flying  insects, 
can  adapt  itself  to  the  pursuit  of  other  food.     In  flying  about 
it  often  takes  insects  by  skimming  and  fluttering 
over  water,  or  by  picking  them  from  the  grass 
or  trees.     After  the  severe  rainstorm  of  June, 
1903,  when  the  air  was  swept  clear  of  all  flying 
insects  by  torrents  of  rain,  Mr.  Outram  Bangs 
saw  Kingbirds  picking  up  from  the  ground  dead 
size-  or  dying  insects. 

They  sometimes  alight  on  plowed  lands,  and  pick  up  grubs 
and  myriapods  ;  they  will  also  eat  wild  berries  and  seeds. 
Very  large  beetles  are  taken,  such  as  May  beetles  and 
Cetonias,  as  well  as  some  of  the  beneficial  tiger 
beetles  and  ground  beetles.  Weevils  of  both 
grain  and  fruit,  click  beetles,  grasshoppers  and 
crickets,  wasps,  wild  bees,  ants,  and  flies  are 
prominent  among  the  food  materials  of  this 
bird.  Among  the  flies  taken  are  house  flies 
and  several  species  that  trouble  cattle  ;  but 

Fig.  99.— May 

smaller  insects,  like  mosquitoes,  gnats,  and  beetle,  natural 
midgets,  are  not  ignored.  Leaf  hoppers  and  slze" 
many  other  bugs  are  taken ;  and  a  great  variety  of  cater- 
pillars, mostly  of  the  hairless  species,  are  eaten  or  fed  to  the 
young.  This  bird  is  destructive  to  moths  of  many  kinds, 
among  them  the  gipsy  moth.  In  two  and  one-half  hours 
seven  of  these  birds  were  seen  to  take  seventy-nine  male  and 


SONGLESS  BIEDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.  239 

twenty-four  female  gipsy  moths,  and  they  killed  in  that  time 
a  great  many  more  that  could  not  be  positively  identified. 

The  Kingbird,  therefore,  is  particularly  beneficial  about 
the  garden  and  orchard,  for  it  eats  very  little,  if  any,  culti- 
vated fruit.  The  only  bad  habit  attributed  to  this  bird  is 
that  of  killing  honey  bees,  and  even  while  catching  bees  it 
seems  about  as  likely  to  do  good  as  harm.  Professor  Beal 
states  that  a  bee  raiser  in  Iowa,  having  good  reason  to  believe 
that  the  Kingbirds  were  feeding  upon  his  bees,  shot  a  number 
near  his  hives,  but  an  expert  entomologist  could  find  no  trace 
of  bees  in  their  stomachs.  The  investigations  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  seem  to  indicate  that  the  Kingbird  does 
not  ordinarily  reduce  the  aggregate  number  of  working  bees. 
Only  fourteen  out  of  two  hundred  and  eighty-one  stomachs 
examined  contained  any  remains  of  honey  bees.  There  were 
but  fifty  bees  found,  forty  of  which  were  drones,  only  four 
were  positively  identified  as  workers,  and  six  were  so  much 
broken  as  to  render  the  distinguishing  of  sex  impossible. 
Professor  Beal  finds  that  the  Kingbird  feeds  on  robber  flies, 
—  insects  which  prey  largely  on  other  insects,  especially 
honey  bees.  He  considered  nineteen  robber  flies  contained 
in  the  Kingbirds'  stomachs  to  be  more  than  an  equivalent  for 
the  working  bees  found  ;  and  the  destruction  of  drones  by 
Kingbirds  is  a  benefit.  On  the  whole,  it  seems  probable 
that,  while  the  Kingbirds  eat  some  bees,  they  confine  their 
bee-eating  mainly  to  the  drones,  and  also  protect  the  bees 
by  killing  the  moths  and  flies  that  prey  upon  them. 

Dragon  flies,  which  are  believed  to  be  useful  insects,  are 
killed  by  Kingbirds,  but  apparently  more  from  necessity 
than  choice,  as  the  bird  seems  to  pay  little  attention  to  them 
when  insects  more  to  its  taste  are  plentiful.  In  studying 
the  insect  enemies  of  the  gipsy  moth,  it  was  noticed  that 
Kingbirds  occasionally  caught  ichneumon  flies.  It  was  seen, 
however,  that  at  the  time  when  most  of  the  beneficial  ich- 
neumon flies  were  depositing  their  eggs  in  the  caterpillars, 
the  Kingbirds  wrere  absent ;  but  when  these  flies  had  done 
their  work,  when  the  moths  had  begun  to  emerge,  and  when 
an  injurious  or  secondary  parasite,  Theronia  melanocephala, 
was  depositing  its  eggs  in  the  living  bodies  of  the  beneficial 


240  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


primary  parasites,  then  numbers  of  Kingbirds  were  attracted 
by  the  flying  moths.  It  seems  quite  probable,  therefore,  that 
the  destruction  of  parasitic  insects  by  Kingbirds  is  as  likely 
to  be  beneficial  in  such  cases  as  injurious.1  As  about  ninety 
per  cent,  of  the  Kingbird's  food  consists  of  insects  mostly 
injurious ;  as  it  has  never  yet  been  shown  to  be  positively 
harmful  in  any  respect ;  and  as  it  acts  as  a  protector  to  small 
birds  and  poultry  on  the  farm,  —  there  need  be  nothing  further 
said  to  commend  the  bird  to  the  farmer. 

HUMMINGBIRDS. 

The  Hummingbirds  are  popularly  believed  to  feed  solely 
upon  the  nectar  of  flowers  ;  but  they  are  probably  of  con- 
siderable economic  importance,  for  the  reason  that,  because 
of  their  small  size  and  long,  slender  beaks,  they  capture 
many  tiny  insects  that  conceal  themselves  among  the  blos- 
soms and  foliage.  Only  one  species  of  this  distinctively 
American  family  has  been  found  in  Massachusetts. 

Ruby-throated  Hummingbird. 
Trochilus  colubris. 

Length.  — About  three  and  three-fourths  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Above,  bright,  glossy  green ;  throat  metallic  ruby-red ;  lower  parts 

white. 

Female  and  Young.  —  Similar,  but  without  red  on  throat. 
Nest. — A  shallow  little  cup  of  soft,  downy  materials,  covered  externally  with 

lichens,  looking  like  a  "moss-covered"  knot  on  a  branch;   from  five  to 

sixty  feet  up. 
Eggs.  —  White. 
Season.  — May  to  September. 

This  dainty,  feathered  gem,  the  smallest  of  all  native  birds, 
comes  to  us  from  the  tropics  when  the  south  wind  blows  in 
May,  and  when  bursting  buds  and  flowers  first  afford  it  the 
honey,  nectar,  and  tiny  insects  on  which  it  lives.  Often 
when  the  cherry  trees  are  in  bloom  many  of  these  little  sprites 

1  It  would  seem  from  the  above  that  the  Kingbird  was  doubly  useful :  first,  in 
killing  the  gipsy  moth ;  second,  in  protecting  the  parasites  of  the  gipsy  moth  from 
secondary  parasites.  But  there  may  be  some  doubt  regarding  the  habits  of  this 
Theronia.  It  is  named  by  Professor  Fernald  (Monograph  of  the  Gipsy  Moth, 
Forbush-Fernald,  1896,  p.  376)  as  one  of  the  most  useful  primary  parasites  of  the 
gipsy  moth,  although  he  states  that  Mr.  C.  E.  Bailey  captured  a  specimen  in  the 
act  of  stinging  a  gipsy  pupa  that  was  already  parasitized  by  a  dipterous  insect. 


SOXGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.  241 

may  be  seen  buzzing  about  among  the  petals,  with  a  sound 
like  that  of  huge  bees.  In  power  of  flight  the  Hummer 
surpasses  all  other  birds.  The  little  body,  divested  of  its 
feathers,  is  no  larger  than  the  end  of  one's  finger,  but  the 
breast  muscles  which  move  the  wings  are  enormous  in  pro- 
portion to  the  size  of  the  bird.  They  form  a  large  part  of  the 
entire  trunk,  and  their  power  is  such  that  they  can  vibrate 
the  inch-long  feathers  of  those  little  wings  with  such  rapidity 
that  the  human  eye  can  scarcely  follow  the  bird  when  it  is 
moved  to  rapid  flight  by  fear  or  passion. 

The  Rubv-throat  is  exceedingly  pugnacious  in  the  nesting 
season.  The  males  fight  with  one  another,  and,  secure  in 
their  unequalled  powers  of  flight,  they  attack  other  and  larger 
birds.  "When  the  Hummingbird  says  "  Go  ! "  other  birds  stand 
not  upon  the  order  of  their  going,  but  go  at  once  ;  while  the 
little  warrior  sometimes  accelerates  their  flight,  for  his  sharp 
beak  is  a  weapon  not  to  be  despised.  Even  the  Kingbird 
goes  when  the  warlike  Hummer  comes  ;  the  "English"  Spar- 
row flees  in  terror  ;  only  the  Woodpeckers  stand  their  ground. 
When  a  person  approaches  the  nest,  the  sharp  squeaking  or 
chirping  of  the  angry  Hummer  is  sometimes  followed  by  the 
bird  itself,  for  it  has  been  known  to  dart  at  its  human  visitors. 
It  seems  to  have  an  aversion  for  the  diurnal  sphinx  moths,  or 
''Hummingbird  moths,"  as  they  are  called,  and  frequently 
drives  them  away  from  its  favorite  flowers.  Audubon  says  it 
is  sometimes  chased  by  "  bumble  "  bees,  but  easily  avoids  them. 
Miss  Florence  Merriam,  quoting  Mrs.  Bagg,  described  a  fierce 
battle  between  Hummers  and  these  large  bees,  in  which  the 
combatants  on  both  sides  fought  until  exhausted,  tearing  to 
pieces,  in  the  mean  time,  the  flowers  among  which  they  fought. 
The  bee,  with  its  poisoned  lance,  must  be  a  dangerous  antag- 
onist for  so  small  a  bird. 

The  Hummingbird's  nest,  when  newly  built,  with  its  two 

Later,  Mr.  Bailey  found  that  the  Theronias  which  he  watched  invariably  stung 
pupae  that  were  dead,  and  contained  parasitic  pupre.  Mr.  F.  H.  Mosher  has  since 
made  observations  which  confirm  those  of  Mr.  Bailey.  This  may  either  indicate 
that  some  one  is  in  error,  or  it  may  be  considered  good  ground  for  the  hypothesis 
that  this  Theronia  may  be  at  one  time  or  place  a  primary  parasite,  and  at  another 
a  secondary  parasite.  If  this  is  possible,  it  further  complicates  the  relations  be- 
tween the  Kingbird  and  the  gipsy  moth. 


242 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


tiny  eggs,  about  the  size  and  color  of  pea  beans,  lying  on 
their  soft,  downy  bed,  is  the  prettiest  bird  home  to  be  found 
in  our  orchards  or  woodlands.  The  nest  is  often  built  in  an 
apple  or  pear  tree  in  the  orchard,  sometimes  in  a  rose  bush 
in  the  garden,  not  quite  as  often  in  the  woods;  but  I  once 
found  two  nests,  with  eggs,  in  high  trees  on  the  face  of  a 
precipitous  cliff  overlooking  a  lake.  Although  the  nest  in 
such  situations  is  usually  covered  with  lichens  taken  from 
the  surrounding  rocks  or  trees,  the  birds  sometimes  use  other 
material.  Mrs.  Mabel  Osgood  Wright  avers  that  she  found  a 
nest  in  the  top  of  a  spruce,  some  sixty  feet  from  the  ground, 
and  that  the  nest  was  covered  with  flakes  of  spruce  bark, 
instead  of  lichens.  The  nest  is  begun  in  June,  and  is  about 
five  or  six  days  in  the  building.  The  eggs  are  incubated 
about  eight  or  ten  days,  and  the  young  remain  in  the  nest 
usually,  I  think,  about  three  weeks,  although  Audubon's 
observations  do  not  agree  with  this.  They  are  very  tiny 
when  first  hatched,  and  grow  at  first  rather  slowly,  for  birds  ; 
but  later  they  grow  so  rapidly  that  the  nest,  which  is  at  first 
a  neat  cup,  is  extended  by  their  swelling  bodies  until  its 
interior  more  nearly  resembles  a  saucer  than  a  cup. 

The  nest  represented  in  the  accompanying  illustrations 
was  built  in  an  apple  tree  in  Concord.     On  July  3,  when 

the    young   were    probably 
about  two  weeks  old,  the  first 
sketch  was  made.     As  will 
be  seen  (Fig.  100),  the  birds 
were  still  very  small,  and  cov- 
ered with  down  and   pinfeathers. 
Their  bills  were  quite  short,  and  the 
quills  of  the  wings  were  not  developed. 
The  sketch  taken  just  a  week  later  (Fig. 
Fig.  loo.-Hum-     I02)     shows    them    with    their    bills    fully 
mingbirds  about     developed,  their  bodies   well-feathered   and 
one-half  natural     full-winged,  nearly  ready  for  flight.     As  the 
young  Hummers  are  fed  mainly  on  minute  in- 
sects and  small  or  young  spiders,  a  large  number  of  the  tiny 
creatures  must  be  sacrificed  to  supply  the  aliment  necessary 
for  the  astounding  growth  of  a  week.     Some  authors  assert 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.     243 


that  the  male  bird  assists  the  female  in  the  care  of  the  young  ; 
but  in  my  experience  the  male  is  always  absent,  and  the 
female  alone  provides  for  the  young  family.  The  feeding  of 
such  a  family  is  a  most  inter- 
esting proceeding,  as  the  birds 
are  fed  by  regurgitation  until 
the  very  day  before  they  leave 
the  nest.  The  following  re- 
marks on  the  appearance  of 
the  young  birds  and  their 
feeding  are  taken  from  my 
notes  of  July,  1905  :  — 


Fig.  1O1.  — Mother  bird  feeding  young, 
one-half  natural  size. 


How  perfect  are  these  little 
fledgeling  wanderers,  in  their  tiny, 
moss-covered  cup,  shaded  from  the 
southern  sun  rays  by  the  green 
leaves  which  overhang  and  sur- 
round the  nest.  Their  dainty  new  feathers,  of  but  a  few  days'  growth, 
have  been  touched  by  the  tender  mother's  breast  alone  or  the  gentle  dew 
of  heaven.  Their  inscrutable,  brilliant  dark  eyes  flash  quick  glances 
all  around ;  no  motion  escapes  them.  One  leans  forward  from  the 
nest  and  attempts  to  pick  a  moving  aphis  from  the  limb.  Their  whole 
bodies  throb  quickly  with  the  fast-surging  tide  of  hot  life  pulsing 
through  their  veins.  Now,  with  a  boom  like  a  great  bee,  the  mother 
suddenly  appears  out  of  the  air  as  she  darts  almost  in  my  face.  I  am 
standing  within  two  feet  of  the  nest,  and  she  hangs  on  buzzing  wing, 
inspecting  me,  then  perches  on  a  limb  just  above  my  head,  then  on 
another  a  few  feet  away,  her  head  raised  and  neck  craned  to  its  fullest 
extent.  Buzzing  about  from  place  to  place,  she  inspects  me,  until, 
satisfied,  she  finally  alights  on  the  edge  of  the  nest  at  the  usual  place, 
where  her  constant  coming  has  detached  a  piece  of  lichen  and  trodden 
down  the  fabric  of  the  edge.  The  little  birds  raise  themselves  with  flut- 
tering wings,  and  the  parent,  rising  to  her  full  height,  turns  her  bill 
almost  directly  downward,  pushes  it  into  the  open  beak  of  the  young, 
and  by  working  her  gullet  and  throat  discharges  the  food  through  the 
long,  hollow  bill  as  from  a  squirt  gun. 


Two  days  later,  on  the  morning  of  the  llth,  when  Mr. 
Brewster  went  to  the  nest,  one  young  bird  had  gone,  but  the 
other  sat  on  the  edge.  As  he  came  up,  it  "flew  like  a  bullet" 
up  to  the  roof  of  the  barn,  a  few  rods  away. 

Undoubtedly  the  Hummingbirds  live  to  some  extent  on 


244 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


the  nectar  of  flowers.  They  are  fond  of  sweetened  waters 
and  the  sweet  sap  of  maple  trees,  yet  the  greater  part  of 
their  food  is  probably  insects.  They  are  so  active  in  the 
pursuit  of  insects  and  feed  on  such  small  species  that  it  is 
difficult  to  observe  their  fly-catching  habits  ;  but  they  have 


Fig.  1O2.  —  Young  Hummingbirds  nearly  fledged,  about  two-thirds  natural  size. 

been  detected,  as  Wilson  says,  darting  by  the  hour  among 
the  swarms  of  little  insects  that  dance  in  the  air  on  fine 
summer  evenings.  I  have  watched  individuals  hovering 
about  the  branches  of  trees  and  picking  off  small  insects, 
apparently  plant  lice,  or  very  small  spiders.  When  kept  for 
a  time  in  confinement  they  have  shown  a  liking  for  such  flies 
and  gnats  as  could  be  found  in  their  limited  quarters  ;  and 
almost  invariably  when  stomachs  have  been  examined  they 
have  contained  small  winged  insects  or  spiders,  or  both. 
Wilson,  who  opened  "  great  numbers  "  of  these  birds,  found 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND   WOODLAND.     245 

them  filled  with  insects  about  three  times  out  of  four.  Dr. 
Warren  records  the  examination  of  sixty-two  Humming- 
bird stomachs.  The  food  contents  were  mainly  small  spiders, 
beetles,  or  other  insects;  small  worms  and  flies  were  also 
noted,  but  none  was  specifically  identified. 

WOODPECKERS. 

This  family  comprises  a  highly  specialized  group  of  birds, 
the  more  typical  of  which  are  peculiarly  fitted  to  secure  their 
food  by  digging  into  the  trunks  or  limbs  of  trees,  in  search 
of  ants  and  other  wood-boring  insects  which  cut  channels 
under  the  bark  and  into  the  wood.  The  feet  of  most  Wood- 
peckers are  four-toed,  two  toes  being  disposed  in  front  and 
two  behind.  Some  species,  however,  have  but  three  toes. 
The  tail  is  composed  of  stiff,  hard  feathers,  with  strong  shafts. 
These  modifications  of  the  foot  and  tail  assist  the  bird  in 
climbing  perpendicularly  and  in  clinging  to  the  bark  of  trees. 
While  climbing  or  feeding,  the  two  pairs  of  toes  with  their 
strong,  sharp  claws  enable  the  bird  to  grip  the  bark  and  hold 
on,  while  the  strong,  sharp-pointed  quills  of  the  tail  serve 
as  a  brace  or  support.  The  bird  is  thus  more  fully  equipped 
for  climbing  than  a  telegraph  lineman.  The  claws  and  tail 
take  the  place  of  the  man's  hands  and  spurs.  But  the  Wood- 
pecker's tools  for  drilling  into  the  wood  and  extracting  its 
living  food  are  more  wonderful  than  its  climbing  apparatus. 

If  any  one  who  had  never  heard  of  a  Woodpecker  were  to 
be  told  that  the  bird  drilled  holes  into  the  solid  wood  by 
beating  its  head  against  a  tree,  he  would  be  likely  to  regard 
the  story  as  fiction.  Nevertheless,  that  is  very  nearly  what 
the  Woodpecker  actually  does.  The  highly  specialized  appa- 
ratus that  will  permit  of  such  constant  hammering  of  beak 
and  head  against  the  trees  without  producing  concussion  of 
the  brain,  or  the  least  inconvenience  or  injury  to  the  bird, 
is  certainly  among  the  most  wonderful  features  of  bird 
anatomy. 

A  moment's  reflection  will  convince  any  one  that,  unless 
the  Woodpecker's  skull  were  built  on  an  unusual  plan,  it 
could  not  withstand  such  hard  and  continuous  hammering. 
If  we  watch  a  Woodpecker  drilling,  we  shall  see  that  he 


246 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


draws  back  his  head  and  body  to  the  greatest  possible  dis- 
tance from  the  tree,  and  then  strikes  with  all  his  force,  send- 
ing his  strong  beak  powerfully  into  the  wood.  The  skull  of 
the  typical  Woodpecker  is  very  thick  and  hard.  Its  connec- 
tion with  the  beak  is  strong,  but  at  the  same  time  springy, 
and  somewhat  jar-deadening.  The  membrane  which  sur- 
rounds the  brain  is  very  thick  and  strong. 

Maurice  Thompson  says  that  no  person  can  doubt,  after 
an  examination  of  Woodpecker  habits,  that  the  birds  are 
hard  of  hearing.  He  apparently  believes  that  the  continual 
concussion  has  deadened  this  sense.  However  this  may  be, 
it  has  not  interfered  with  the  bird's  sight,  which  seems  pre- 
ternaturally  keen. 

The  bill  is  shaped  somewhat  like  a  stout  chisel,  and  is  used 
as  one.  It  strikes  out  small  chips,  and  so  drills  its  way,  if 

necessary,  even  to  the 
heart  of  the  tree  ;  but 
the  most  highly  spe- 
cialized organ  of  the 
Woodpecker  is  its 
tongue,  which  serves 
as  an  accessory  to  the 
bill  in  bringing  to 
light  the  deep-lurking 
enemies  of  the  tree. 
The  subjoined  cut  of  the  Woodpecker's  skull  (Fig.  103) 
shows  the  tongue  slightly  protruding  from  the  open  beak. 
Ordinarily  the  tongue  lies  in  the  depression  of  the  lower 
mandible.  It  is  slender,  nearly  round,  and  its  upper  sur- 
face is  covered  with  very  minute 
spines,  directed  backward  ;  its  tip 
is  as  hard  as  horn,  with  many 
strong  barbs,  which  make  of  it  a 
weapon  more  effective  in  its  way 
than  a  fish  spear.  The  machinery 
for  thrusting  it  forth  is  most  perfect.  The  bone  of  the 
tongue,  called  the  hyoid,  has  two  branches  which  pass  down- 
ward and  backward  from  the  lower  jaw,  up  and  around  the 
back  of  the  head,  and  over  the  top  of  the  skull,  where  they 


Fig.  1O3.  — Skull  and  tongue  of  Woodpecker. 
(From  Samuels.) 


Fig.  1O4.  — Spearlike  tongue-tip 
of  Downy  Woodpecker,  much 
enlarged. 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND   WOODLAND.     247 


either  pass  into  the  nostrils  and  so  on  in  channels  down 
toward  the  end  of  the  upper  mandible  of  the  beak,  or,  turn- 
ing to  one  side,  coil  themselves  about  the  bony  part  of  the 
eyeball.  These  branches  of  the  hyoid  are  enclosed  in 
sheaths  which  fit  into  a  groove  on  the  top  of  the  skull.  By 
means  of  this  apparatus  the  tongue  may  be  extended  so 
that,  in  the  Hairy  Woodpecker,  it  may  reach  an  inch  and 
a  half  beyond  the  end  of  the  bill.  The  tongue  is  propelled 
forward  at  need  by  powerful  muscles,  so  that  when  the  bird 
has  drilled  to  the  burrow  of  a  boring  beetle  it  can  open  the 
beak  slightly,  protrude  the  tongue,  spear  the  insect  and 
draw  it  out  and  into  the  mouth.  Birds  which  possess  such 
implements  for  the  destruction  of  boring  insects  must  be 
immensely  serviceable  to  man,  for  borers  are  difficult  for 
man  to  control. 

The  utility  of  Woodpeckers  is  now  quite  generally  recog- 
nized by  foresters,  and  by  entomologists  who  study  forest  in- 
sects. Dr.  A.  D.  Hopkins,  the  most  active  and  experienced 
forest  entomologist  in  the  United  States,  is  quoted  by  Dr. 
E.  P.  Felt  as  asserting  that  Woodpeckers  are  the  most  im- 
portant enemies  of  spruce  bark  beetles,  and  appear  to  be  of 
inestimable  value  to  the  spruce  timber  interests  of  the  north- 
east. Dr.  Hopkins  also  states  that  Woodpeckers  are  the 
principal  enemies  of  the  destructive  sap-wood  borers. 

It  is  sometimes  argued  that  Woodpeckers  are  of  little  use 
as  protectors  of  trees,  since  they  never  dig  into  living  wood. 
This  reasoning  is  based  on  an  error,  due  to 
lack  of  careful  observation.  Nuttall  speaks 
of  a  Flicker  that  dug  a  nest  hole  eighteen 
inches  deep  in  a  green  sassafras.  Dr.  Hop- 
kins figures  a  section  of  a  living  tree  in  which 
a  hole  four  inches  long,  two  wide,  and  five 
deep  had  been  made  by  Woodpeckers  in  their 
search  for  boring  larvae.  According  to  the  Fig.ios.-Apine 
annual  wood  rings  around  the  entrance  of  the 
cavity,  the  tree  recovered  and  lived  at  least  fifteen  years  after 
the  bird  captured  the  borers.  The  work  of  Woodpeckers  on 
living  trees  does  not  ordinarily  attract  much  notice.  They 
seldom  need  to  dig  far  into  live  trees  for  borers,  for  most 


248  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


species  that  infest  live  trees  are  found  during  a  part  or  all  of 
their  lives  just  under  the  bark  or  in  the  sap-wood  not  very 
far  from  the  surface ;  and  the  Woodpecker  can  drill  a  small 
hole  into  the  burrow,  insert  its  open  beak,  and 
with  its  tongue  spear  and  extract  the  insect. 
The  wound  soon  heals,  leaving  no  noticeable 
trace.  A  Woodpecker  may  thus  reach  insects 
at  a  depth  of  from  one  to  four  inches,  accord- 
ing to  the  size  of  the  bird.  Dead  trees,  how- 
ever, are  riddled  with  borers  in  all  their  parts, 
FI  1O6  —Pales  an^  ^ne  birds  are  obliged  to  delve  deeply  to 
weevil, a destruc-  find  them ;  therefore,  the  work  of  the  birds 

tive  pine  insect,  . 

eaten  by  Wood-    in  dead  trees  is  most  noticeable. 

peckers.  rpne  chjef  value  of  the  Woodpeckers  con- 

sists in  the  fact  that  when  they  find  a  tree  infested  with  bor- 
ers they  are  likely  to  keep  at  work  upon  it  until  no  more 
larvae  can  be  found.  Thus  they  often  save  the  tree,  and 
check  an  incipient  outbreak  of  borers.  Woodpeckers  so  en- 
gaged sometimes  destroy  parasites  of  boring  insects.  Such 
destruction  of  useful  insects  by  these  birds  is  of  little  conse- 
quence; for  when  the  birds  destroy  the  grubs,  the  parasites 
are  not  needed.  When  the  birds  are  too  few  in  numbers  to 
prevent  an  increase  of  boring  insects,  the  parasites  also  have 
a  similar  immunity  from  the  attacks  of  birds,  and  so  are  free 
to  exert  their  influence  in  restraining  the  borers.  If  Wood- 
peckers should  eat  an  undue  number  of  parasites,  they  might 
then  be  doing  harm ;  but  such  cases  probably  seldom  occur. 
The  Woodpeckers  are  also  useful  in  providing  homes  for 
other  birds.  Most  Woodpeckers  each  year  hollow  out  from 
the  wood  a  home  for  their  young,  and  rarely,  if  ever,  use  it 
more  than  one  season.  Some  species,  of  which  the  Downy 
and  the  Hairy  Woodpeckers  are  familiar  examples,  also 
excavate  holes  to  which  they  retire  for  shelter  during  winter 
nights.  The  larger  Woodpeckers  often  make  deep  holes  in 
dead  trees  while  digging  out  large  borers  or  colonies  of  ants. 
When  the  carpenter  birds  are  through  with  these  cavities 
they  are  sometimes  used  as  nesting  places  by  other  birds 
that  are  unable  to  excavate  for  themselves.  The  deserted 
nests  of  the  Downy  Woodpecker  are  used  by  the  Wren,  the 


PLATE  XX.  — Downy  Woodpecker  at  Nest  Hole.     (Photograph, 
from  life,  by  C.  A.  Reed.)     (From  American  Ornithology.) 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.     249 

Chickadee,  or  even  the  Tree  Swallow;  those  of  the  Hairy 
Woodpecker  may  be  used  by  Bluebirds,  Martins,  or  Swal- 
lows ;  those  of  the  Flicker  by  the  Screech  Owl  and  the  Wood 
Duck.  The  excavations  made  by  Woodpeckers  in  securing 
insects  are  often  used  by  the  Chickadee  or  the  Wren. 

Notwithstanding  their  usefulness,  however,  the  Wood- 
peckers have  been  subject  to  the  most  senseless  and  unjust 
persecution  for  many  years,  merely  because  a  single  species, 
which  rarely  breeds  in  Massachusetts,  feeds  largely  on  the 
sap  and  cambium  layer  of  both  fruit  trees  and  forest  trees. 
This  species  (the  Yellow-bellied  Sapsucker)  has  not  the 
strong,  barbed  tongue  of  the  typical  Woodpeckers. 

Eight  species  of  Woodpecker  occur  in  Massachusetts,  but 
only  two,  the  Downy  Woodpecker  and  the  Flicker,  are  com- 
mon residents  throughout  the  State.  The  Hairy  Wood- 
pecker is  also  common,  though  less  so  than  the  others,  and 
more  local.  All  other  species  are  usually  rare  migrants, 
except  the  Sapsucker,  which  is  seen  regularly  in  spring  and 
fall,  and  the  Pileated  Woodpecker,  which  is  local. 

It  is  a  popular  error  to  speak  of  all  Woodpeckers  as  either 
Sapsuckers  or  Red-headed  Woodpeckers.  The  males  of  all 
our  Woodpeckers  have  red  on  the  back  of  the  head  or  nape  ; 
but  the  Red-headed  Woodpecker  has  the  head,  throat,  and 
neck  red  all  round.  Although  once  common  locally  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, it  is  now  rare  ordinarily,  and  seldom  breeds  in 
the  State.  The  birds  now  generally  known  in  Massachu- 
setts as  "  Red-headed  Woodpeckers  "  are  the  species  herein- 
after described  under  their  proper  names. 

Downy  Woodpecker. 

Dry  abates  piibescens  rnediamts. 

Length.  —  About  six  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Upper  parts  black,  striped,  and  barred  with  white ;  a  small  scarlet 

patch  at  the  back  of  the  head. 

Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  but  without  the  scarlet  on  head. 
Young.  —  The  scarlet  patch  in  the  male  gives  place  to  reddish-brown. 
West.  —  In  a  hole  made  by  the  birds  in  a  dead  stump  or  limb. 
Eggs.  —  White. 
Season.  —  Resident. 

This  sprightly  little  bird,  the  smallest  of  the  Woodpeckers, 
is  also  the  most  useful.  It  is  found  commonly  throughout 


250  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


most  of  the  State  wherever  trees  grow.  Its  sharp,  clear,  in- 
cisive notes  are  aptly  compared  by  Chapman  to  the  ring  of 
a  marble  quarrier's  chisel.  Its  only  approach  to  a  musical 
performance  is  its  resonant  drumming  on  a  sounding  hollow 
limb  or  bird  box.  This  habit,  which  it  has  in  common  with 
other  Woodpeckers,  seems  to  be  resorted  to  out  of  pure 
exuberance  of  joy  and  vigorous  life  ;  it  is,  with  this  carpenter 
bird,  a  fitting  substitute  for  song. 

The  nesting  cavity  is  wrought  out  with  happy  labor  in  some 
dead  limb.  The  entrance  is  just  large  enough  to  admit  the 
owner  by  tight  squeezing,  and  the  interior  is  trimmed  into 
graceful  curves,  rounding  at  the  bottom  into  a  receptacle  for 
the  snowy  eggs.  The  birds  sometimes  carry  the  chips  away, 
but  are  often  careless  of  concealment,  and  let  them  fall  about 
the  foot  of  the  tree. 

Downy  is  a  bird  of  the  old  orchard  in  summer.  He  prefers 
to  inhabit  trees  that  are  neglected  by  their  owners,  and 
assumes  the  self-appointed  guardianship  of  such  trees  in  the 
happiest  frame  of  mind  imaginable.  He  does  this  for  the 
reason  that  these  neglected  orchards  harbor  a  host  of  insects 
and  vermin,  in  the  destruction  of  which  he  revels.  Under 
those  scales  of  bark  there  lurk  in  early  spring  the  larvre  of 
the  codling  moth,  which  pass  the  winter  in  their  loosely  spun 
cocoons.  Downy  knows  just  where  to  find  them.  He  circles 
the  trunk  and  limbs,  climbs  up  or  comes  down  backward, 
and  ever  and  anon  he  taps  and  sounds  the  bark,  until  the 
tell-tale  vibration  given  back  by  the  scale  above  the  cocoon 
corroborates  the  evidence  of  his  eyes.  Every  stroke  with 
which  he  knocks  on  the  door  of  an  insect's  retreat  sounds 
the  crack  of  doom.  He  pierces  the  bark  with  his  beak, 
then  with  his  barbed  tongue  drags  forth  the  insect,  and 
moves  on  to  tap  the  last  summons  on  the  door  of  the  next 
in  line.  Now  and  then  an  intelligent  bird  carries  the  warfare 
against  the  apple  worm  still  farther,  and  pecks  the  fruit  upon 
the  tree  ;  but,  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  he  attacks  only 
wormy  fruit,  and  when  he  has  the  worm  he  leaves  the  apple. 

Dr.  Trimble,  in  his  book  entitled  "Insects  Injurious  to 
Fruits,"  asserts  that  he  found  numerous  instances  where  the 
bird  had  penetrated  the  cocoons  of  the  codling  moth. 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.     251 

Dr.  Rufus  H.  Petit,  entomologist  of  the  Michigan  Experi- 
ment Station,  says  that  in  almost  every  case  where  cocoons 
of  this  insect  were  concealed  under  flakes  of  bark  the  birds 
had  found  them.  ''  Such  pierced  cocoons,"  he  says,  "are  the 
common  thing  in  our  orchards,  especially  where  they  have 
been  above  the  snow  line."  Fig.  107, 
which  is  drawn  from  a  reproduction  of 
his  photograph,  shows  the  inner  surface 
of  a  flake  of  bark,  the  remains  of  a 
cocoon  attached,  and  the  hole  made  by 
the  bill  of  the  bird. 

A  large  part  of  the  food  of  this  Wood- 
pecker, while  in  the  orchard,  consists 
of  wood-boring  beetles,  their  larva?,    pig  1O7.-cocoonof  cod- 
and  various  bark  beetles  and  weevils.      lins  moth>  pierced  by 

11-1  •  Woodpecker. 

Hardly  another  bird,  excepting  the  suc- 
ceeding species,  can  compete  with  this  in  destroying  borers, 
such  as  the  round-headed  apple  borer,  that  infest  fruit  trees. 
In  securing  these  insects  it  never  does  the  trees  any  percep- 
tible harm.  In  many  cases  it  perforates  the  bark  of  apple 
trees  with  small,  roundish  holes,  less  than  an  inch  apart, 
disposed  in  parallel  horizontal  rings.  Xuttall  says  that  these 
holes  are  made  for  the  purpose  of  drink- 
ing sap  from  the  trees.  But  this  work  is 
not  done  for  the  sake  of  the  sap,  if,  as 
Pig.  108. -Apple  tree  AVilson  says,  it  is  always  performed  in 
the  fall,  at  a  time  when  the  sap  is  not  flow- 
ing ;  possibly  the  bird  takes  out  bits  of  the  cambium  layer; 
Wilson  believed  it  was  delving  for  insects  ;  but  whatever  the 
reason,  the  trees  so  perforated  seem  to  be  invigorated  rather 
than  injured  by  the  process,  which  is  not  the  case  with  trees 
similarly  attacked  by  the  true  Sapsucker.  The  holes  made 
by  the  Sapsucker  are  different  in  shape,  being  square  rather 
than  round. 

Towncnd  Glover,  formerly  entomologist  to  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  stated  that  he  observed 
the  Downy  making  a  number  of  small,  rough-edged  perfora- 
tions in  the  bark  of  an  ash  tree,  and  found  that  wherever  the 
bark  had  been  thus  injured  the  young  larva  of  a  wood-eating 


252  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


beetle  had  been  snugly  coiled  underneath,  and  had  been  de- 
stroyed by  the  bird,  thus  proving  conclusively  to  his  mind 
that  these  holes  are  made  for  the  purpose  of  finding  insect 
food. 

But  Downy  does  not  confine  his  attacks  to  the  hidden 
enemies  of  trees;  he  takes  caterpillars  and  weevils  from 
twigs,  buds,  and  branches.  His  young  are  largely  fed  on 
caterpillars  of  various  sorts.  Ants  and  plant  lice  —  those 
ill-assorted  masters  and  servants  —  are  slaughtered  in  im- 
mense numbers. 

The  following,  from  Mr.  Kirkland's  notes,  exhibits  this 
bird  as  a  destroyer  of  the  woolly  aphis  :  — 

While  in  Amherst,  Oct.  20,  1895,  I  was  able  to  approach  to  within 
six  to  eight  feet  of  a  Downy  Woodpecker  which  was  feeding  on  a  small 
apple  tree.  The  bird  was  busy  hunting  the  twigs  over  for  food.  I  saw 
it  eat  a  number  of  leaf  miners'  (Tineid)  cocoons,  which  were  attached 
to  the  small  twigs.  Some  of  these  were  undoubtedly  Bucculatrix  pomi- 
foliella.  Other  cocoons  were  not  oblong,  but  elliptical ;  nearly  all 
cocoons  contained  a  small  green  larva.  A  subsequent  examination  of 
twigs  which  the  bird  had  searched  showed  that  the  cocoons  it  had  left 
were  parasitized.  On  the  tree  were  many  bark  lice  (Mytilaspis  pomo- 
rum),  but  I  did  not  see  the  bird  feed  on  them.  The  fact  of  greatest  in- 
terest to  me  was  that  the  bird  apparently  sought  out  the  small  cavities 
(made  by  pruning)  on  the  branches,  and  fed  upon  the  woolly  aphis 
(Schizoneura  lanigera),  which  had  clustered  in  masses  in  the  cavities. 
This  aphis  sometimes  does  considerable  damage  to  apple  trees.  Mr. 
Frost  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  aphis  also  prevents  the  healing  over  of 
wounds  made  by  pruning.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  clusters  of  this 
aphis  commonly  occur  on  the  callus  which  develops  around  wounds, 
apparently  making  it  their  feeding  ground. 

The  imagoes  of  nocturnal  moths  that  rest  on  trees  during 
the  day  are  taken  by  this  bird,  and  he  eats  the  eggs  of  many 
insects.  He  may  well  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  of  the 
feathered  friends  of  the  orchardist.  But  it  is  in  the  woods 
and  among  the  shade  trees  that  the  good  qualities  of  the 
Downy  come  out  strongest. 

When  the  Metropolitan  Park  Commission  first  began  to 
set  out  young  trees  along  the  parkways  near  Boston,  some 
species  of  trees  were  attacked  by  numerous  borers  ;  but  the 
Downy  Woodpeckers  found  them  out  and  extracted  the  grubs, 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.  253 


saving  most  of  the  trees.     The  cut  (Fig.  109)  shows  a  por- 
tion of  the  top  of  one  of  these  trees,  riddled  by  the  borer. 
The  knife-cut  at  the  bottom  exposes  their  galleries.     The 
small  perforations  along  the  stem  were  made  by 
the  Woodpecker  in  extracting  the  grubs. 

The  untiring  industry  of  this  bird  and  the  per- 
fection of  its  perceptive  powers  may  be  shown 
by  the  experience  of  Mr.  Bailey.  On  March  28, 
1899,  a  Downy  Woodpecker  that  he  watched 
climbed  over  and  inspected  one  hundred  and 
eighty-one  woodland  trees  between  9.40  A.M. 
and  12.15  P.M.,  and  made  twenty-six  excava- 
tions for  food.  Most  of  these  holes  exposed  gal- 
leries in  the  trunks  or  in  high  branches  where 
wood-boring  ants  were  hiding.  The  openings 
that  the  bird  drilled  in  piercing  one  of  these 
tunnels  in  a  branch  some  thirty-five  feet  from 
the  ground  are  shown  in  Fig.  110.  It  had  un- 
covered dormant  black  ants,  and  in  each  case  had 

pierced  their 
burrow  at 
the  exact  spot 
where  they  were 
gathered .     These 
wood-boring  ants 
often  gain  an  entrance 
at  some    unprotected 
spot  on  a  living  tree,  and 
so  excavate  the  wood  of  the 
trunk  that  the  tree  is  blown 
down  by  the  wind.     This  Wood- 
pecker acts  as  a  continual  check       Fte-  100. 
on  the  increase  of  such  ants. 

The  delicacy  of  that  sense  of  touch  or 
audition  by  which  the  bird  was  enabled  to 
locate  those  motionless  insects  in  their  hid- 
den burrow  must  ever  command  our  admiration,  unendowed 
as  we  are  with  such  delicate  perceptive  powers. 

Another  Downy  Woodpecker  was  seen  on  March  31  taking 


Fig.  HO.  — Downy 
Woodpecker  and 
his  work. 


254 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


d-— 


the  larvae  of  boring  beetles  from  beneath  the  bark  of  oak  trees. 
The  bird  seemed  to  know  the  exact  spot  at  which  to  drill  for 
each  larva,  for  it  always  cut  a  small  hole  directly  over  the 
insect.  The  cut  (Fig.  Ill)  gives  a  view  of  the  outer  surface 
of  a  section  of  bark  taken  from  a  small  oak.  From  this  small 

piece  of  bark  the 
bird  probably  se- 
cured at  least  six 
of  the  larvae  that 
were  found  in  its 
stomach.  The 
holes  at  «,  b,  c, 
d,  e,  f,  indicate 
those  from  which 
the  larvae  were 
taken.  Fig.  112 
gives  a  view  of 
the  inner  surface 
of  the  same  piece 
of  bark,  showing 
how  true  was  the 

e Vtmtmii  HHiTill'«l«J""~     stroke   of  the 

bird,  for  its  beak, 
piercing  from  the 
outside,  went  di- 
rectly to  the  cen- 
ter of  the  burrow 
where  the  dormant  insects  lay,  entirely  hidden  from  view. 
The  letters  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,  f,  indicate  the  holes  where  the 
bird's  beak  came  through  to  the  inner  surface.  Twelve 
ants  and  seventeen  larvae  of  boring  beetles  were  found  in 
its  stomach. 

The  Downy  Woodpecker  is  one  of  the  most  useful  of  all 
birds  to  the  lumberman,  for  it  feeds  on  such  destructive 
insects  as  the  bronze  birch  borer,  the  maple  borer,  and  the 
pine  weevil,  —  an  insect  of  such  importance  that  its  habits 
merit  some  description  here.  This  little  insect  (fissodes 
strobi)  deposits  its  eggs  on  the  topmost  shoots  of  the  finest 
and  most  vigorous  young  white  pines,  and  the  young  larvae 


e 


Fig.  111. 


Fig.  112. 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.     255 


eat  away  the  wood,  and  thus  destroy  the  leading  shoot  or 
main  stem  of  the  tree.  As  the  side  shoots  grow  upward 
they  also  are  attacked,  and  the  tree  is  ruined  for  timber. 
Instead  of  growing  a  tall,  straight  trunk,  it  grows  straggling 
branches.  Quite  often  the  leading  shoot  of  a  tree  is  attacked 


Fig.  113.  —  Pine  top  killed  by  pine 
weevil. 


Fig.  114.  —  Tree  crooked  and  ruined  for 
timber  by  pine  weevil. 


in  this  way  year  after  year.  Each  attack  results  in  a  crook 
in  the  trunk,  and  the  tree  when  grown  is  fit  only  for  kindling 
wood.  Perhaps  no  insect  is  a  greater  pest  to  the  lumberman 
than  this.  While  examining  the  work  of  this  insect  in  a 
fine  grove  of  young  white  pines  I  saw  that  many  of  the  bur- 
rows had  been  perforated  by  birds,  and  the  grubs  extracted. 
It  appears  that  Dr.  Fitch  also  noticed  this,  for  he  says  that 
small  birds  are  very  efficient  in  ferreting  out  and  devouring 


256  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


the  larvae  and  pupse  of  this  weevil.  He  does  not,  however, 
name  the  birds.1 

I  have  seen  many  shoots  from  which  this  insect  had  been 
removed  by  birds,  and  most  of  them  showed  the  character- 
istic work  of  this  Woodpecker.  Some  other  Woodpeckers 
and  the  Chickadee  are  probably  useful  in  this  respect.  The 
Downy  Woodpecker  hunts  borers  to  the  very  twigs.  Mr. 
Kirkland  saw  a  mother  bird  pecking  away  at  twigs  infested 
by  the  oak  pruner,  taking  out  the  larvte  and  feeding  them 
to  her  young. 

There  is  some  reason  for  calling  the  Downy  a  sapsucker. 
Occasionally  he  is  accused  of  tapping  the  smaller  limbs  and 
twigs  of  maples  and  other  trees  for  their  sap.  Nuttall  says 
he  has  seen  the  bird  drinking  sap  from  the  trees,  and  that  it 
bores  into  the  wax  myrtle  for  that  purpose.  I  have  never 
been  able  to  observe  this,  and  ornithologists  generally  deny 
that  it  is  a  fact.  But  Mr.  Bailey's  observations  seem  to 
prove  that  the  farmer  is  not  altogether  wrong  in  his  appella- 
tion of  the  bird.  The  habit,  however,  seems  to  be  not  a 
common  one.  Mr.  Bailey's  experience  has  been  spoken  of 
in  a  paper  read  before  the  American  Ornithologists'  Union, 
and  in  another  published  in  the  annual  report  of  the  secretary 
of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture  for  1900; 
but  I  am  now  able  to  present  cuts  from  drawings  of  two 
stems  tapped  by  the  Downy,  which  show  the  ingenious 
method  employed  by  the  bird,  also  how  its  perforations 
differ  from  those  made  by  the  Sapsucker.  The  quotation 
from  Mr.  Bailey's  field  notes  follows  :  — 

At  12.30  I  found  a  Downy  Woodpecker,  and  watched  him  till  2.45 ; 
he  took  three  larvae  from  a  maple  stub,  just  under  the  bark.  He  next 
tapped  two  small  swamp  maples,  four  and  six  feet  from  the  ground, 
and  spent  most  of  the  time  taking  sap.  He  tapped  the  tree  by  pecking 
it  a  few  times  very  lightly ;  it  looked  like  a  slight  cut,  slanting  a  little. 
The  bird  would  sit  and  peck  the  sap  out  of  the  lower  part  of  the  cut. 
The  cut  was  so  small  the  sap  did  not  collect  very  fast.  The  bird  would 
go  and  sit  for  a  long  time  in  a  large  tree,  then  it  would  come  back  and 
take  more  sap.  It  did  this  three  times  while  I  was  watching  it.  It  did 

1  Insects  Injurious  to  Forest  and  Shade  Trees,  by  A.  S.  Packard.  Fifth 
Report  of  the  United  States  Entomological  Commission,  quotation  from  Fitch, 
p.  740. 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND   WOODLAND.     257 


not  care  to  take  any  food  but  the  sap.  I  could  get  within  six  feet  of 
the  bird  without  any  trouble  while  it  was  taking  sap.  It  then  left  and 
went  into  a  large  tree,  and  I  lost  it ;  but  if  I  had  staved  by  the  tree  I 
think  it  would  have  come  back  before  night,  as  it  had  done  when  I  was 
watching  it,  for  it  was  gone  half  an  hour  at  one  time. 

The  two  young  trees  that  were  tapped  were  red  maples 
(Acer  rubrum*).  The  incisions  in  each  case  were  similar, 
and  from  their  appearance  we  may  as- 
sume that  the  bird  first  struck  its  bill 
into  the  bark  from  the  right  upward, 
and  then  from 
the  left  down- 
ward, leaving  a 
small  bridge  of 
bark  to  cover 
the  opening. 
It  then  took 
the  sap  by  in- 
serting its  bill 
at  the  lower 
orifice,  a,  the  ^ 
upper  one,  6, 
allowing  the 
free  entrance  of 
air  to  facilitate 
the  flow  of  the 
sap  out  of  the 
lower  at  a. 

The  vegetable 
food  of  this 
AVood pecker 
is  varied  and 
rather  small  in 
quantity.  In 
spring  it  eats  a  Fl*' ll0'  Fi*  116" 

few  buds  and  petals  of  flowers  ;  some  berries,  such  as  June- 
berries  and  wild  strawberries,  in  summer ;  and  in  fall  and 
winter  it  eats  pokeberries,  poison  ivy,  sumac,  mullein,  and 
other  seeds.  Frozen  apples  are  eaten  in  winter.  According 


258  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


to  Professor  Beal,  Dr.  Merriam  found  the  stomachs  of  four 
birds  filled  with  beechnuts,  and  has  seen  this  species  eat  the 
berries  of  the  mountain  ash.  It  eats  bayberries  also. 

Hairy  Woodpecker. 

Dryobates  villosus. 

Length.  —  About  nine  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult.  —  Quite  similar  to  the  Downy  Woodpecker,  but  much  larger ;  the  bill  pro- 
portionately longer. 

Nest.  —  A  hole  cut  in  a  tree  by  the  bird. 
Eggs.—  White. 
Season.  —  Resident. 

The  Hairy  Woodpecker,  like  the  preceding  species,  lives 
to  such  an  extent  on  the  grubs  of  boring  beetles  and  on 
wood-boring  ants  that  it  can  find  food  at  all  times  of  the 
year.  In  very  cold  winters, 
however,  when  the  trees  are 
solidly  frozen  for  months,  both 
these  species  find  it  difficult  to 
dig  out  borers  from  living  trees. 
In  the  winter  of  1903-04,  which 
was  exceed  in  gly  cold,  the 
Woodpeckers  were  compelled 
to  work  on  dry  limbs  and  fence 
rails,  wood  piles,  and  any  dry 
Fig.  117. -Hairy  woodpecker, male,  timber  they  could  find.  They 

about  one-half  natural  size.  ,  , .    ,    .  11.1.1 

do  not  disdain  to  help  them- 
selves to  waste  meat,  fat,  or  suet  in  winter. 

The  Hairy  Woodpecker  is  less  common  than  the  Downy, 
but  individually  is  about  as  useful.  Its  sharp,  clicking  notes 
much  resemble  those  of  its  smaller  congener,  but  they  are 
stronger,  and  have  a  wilder  sound.  The  bird  may  be  easily 
recognized  by  its  large  size  and  its  vigorous,  rapid  move- 
ments. Like  all  Woodpeckers,  its  flight  is  rather  undulat- 
ing, as  though,  by  reason  of  its  excess  of  vigor,  it  could  not 
help  leaping  and  bounding  through  the  air.  It  is  usually 
shyer  than  the  Downy,  and  is  found  more  in  timber  lands 
than  in  orchards  ;  but  becomes  tamer  where  it  is  not  molested 
by  man,  and  sometimes  breeds  in  the  orchard. 

Maurice  Thompson  says  that  this  bird  strikes  its  bill  into 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.     259 

the  wood  and  then  for  an  instant  holds  the  point  of  one 
mandible  in  the  dent  thus  made,  while  it  listens  for  the 
movements  of  the  borer.  He  contends  that  the  vibrations 
produced  by  the  insect  in  the  wood  are  conveyed  through 
the  bill  of  the  bird  to  its  brain. 

This  bird  eats  less  animal  food  in  proportion  to  its  vege- 
table food  than  does  the  Downy  Woodpecker ;  and  accord- 
ing to  Professor  Beal  it  eats  more  beetles,  more  caterpillars, 
and  less  ants,  than  does  its  smaller  relative.  Beetles  and 
their  larvse  form  fully  one-third  of  its  insect  food,  and  a  large 
part  of  these  consists  of  the  larger  wood-boring  insects.  Its 
special  usefulness  inheres  in  its  large  size,  its  long  beak  and 
tongue,  and  its  power  of  drilling  deep  into  the  trees  and 
extracting  from  trunks  and  branches  the  larger  pernicious 
borers.  In  this  respect  the  bird  is  more  nearly  indispensa- 
ble to  the  forester  and  orchardist  than  any  other  bird  of  the 
State,  except  perhaps  the  Pileated  Woodpecker,  which  is  so 
local  as  to  be  of  much  less  value  generally.  Mr.  J.  M. 
Baskett  tells  of  some  Siberian  crab  trees  in  his  yard  that  were 
attacked  by  borers.  One  of  the  trees  died  ;  but  a  Hairy 
Woodpecker  came,  worked  diligently,  and  cleaned  out  all  the 
grubs,  thus  saving  the  remaining  trees. 

This  Woodpecker  is  often  quite  destructive  to  hairy  cat- 
erpillars, and  feeds  its  young  on  noxious  larvte  of  many 
species.  It  also  attacks  the  pupse  or  chrvsalids  of  many  in- 
jurious moths,  among  them  those  of  the  gipsy  moth.  Moths 
that  hibernate  in  cocoons  during  the  winter  are  particularly 
exposed  to  the  attacks  of  this  Woodpecker.  Dr.  F.  M. 
Webster  states  that  he  saw  one  of  these  birds  peck  through 
the  cocoon  of  the  cecropia  moth,  and  devour  the  contents. 
On  examining  more  than  a  score  of  these  cocoons,  he  found 
only  two  uninjured  by  the  bird.  Ants,  grasshoppers,  and 
spiders  are  eaten. 

Its  vegetable  food  is  much  like  that  of  the  Downy,  but  is 
consumed  in  much  larger  quantity.  It  sometimes  takes  a 
little  corn  ;  in  summer  it  feeds  much  on  wild  cherries,  and 
in  the  fall  on  wild  grapes  to  some  extent.  Like  the  Downy, 
it  eats  a  little  of  the  inner  bark  or  cambium  from  the  tree 
trunks,  and  possibly  may  take  some  sap. 


260  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


While  this  bird  often  excavates  a  hole  for  a  winter  shelter, 
it  sometimes  sleeps  exposed  on  a  tree  trunk.  Mr.  Bailey 
and  I  once  watched  one  that  slept  for  many  winter  nights  on 
the  north  side  of  a  tree  trunk  in  a  thick  grove.  It  attached 
its  claws  to  the  bark  and  went  to  sleep  in  much  the  same 
position  in  which  it  ordinarily  climbed  the  tree.  It  inva- 
riably went  to  the  same  tree  at  night,  and  was  found  in  the 
same  place  at  daylight  each  morning. 

Northern  Flicker.  Golden-winged  Woodpecker.  Pigeon  Woodpecker. 
Yellow  Hammer.  Partridge  Woodpecker.  Wake-up.  Gaffer  Wood- 
pecker. High-hole,  High-holder,  etc. 

Colaptes  auratus  luteus. 

Length. — About  twelve  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Brown  above;  a  scarlet  crescent  across  the  nape  of  the  neck;  top 
and  back  of  head  gray ;  back  and  wings  barred  with  black ;  rump  white ; 
quill  feathers  of  wings  and  tail  black  above,  golden-yellow  below ;  shafts 
of  both  wing  and  tail  feathers  yellow ;  throat  pinkish-brown,  running  to 
buff  on  the  breast,  sides,  and  belly,  which  are  marked  with  round  black 
dots ;  a  black  crescent  on  breast,  and  a  black  patch  on  each  side  of  head 
just  below  gape. 

Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  but  without  the  black  "mustache." 

Nest.  —  A  hole  in  a  tree,  from  four  to  forty  feet  from  the  ground. 

Eggs.  —  Glossy  white. 

Season.  —  Resident;  not  very  common  in  winter  except  in  southeastern  Massa- 
chusetts. 

The  Flicker,  our  largest  and  most  common  Woodpecker,  is 
well  known,  in  some  one  or  more  of  its  various  forms,  over 
the  greater  part  of  temperate  America.  It  has  over  thirty 
vernacular  names,  a  few  of  the  most  common  of  which  are 
given  above.  A  loud  wick,  wick,  is  the  Flicker's  announce- 
ment that  spring  has  come.  Its  amorous  wick'-er,  wick'-er, 
wick'-er,  sounds  from  the  orchards  in  early  spring,  as  the  male 
birds  play  about  in  curious  antics,  each  trying  in  friendly 
rivalry  to  outdo  the  other  in  the  display  of  his  golden  beauty, 
that  he  may  thus  attract  and  hold  the  admiration  of  the 
female.  There  is  no  fighting,  but  in  its  place  an  exhibition 
of  all  the  airs  and  graces  that  the  rival  dandies  can  muster. 
Their  extravagant,  comical  gestures,  rapidly  changing  atti- 
tudes, and  exuberant  cries,  all  seem  laughable  to  the  onlooker, 
but  evidently  give  pleasure  to  the  birds.  Their  notes  on 
such  occasions  have  considerable  variety,  and  are  all  pleasing. 


SOXGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.  261 


This  bird  often  beats  a  long  roll  on  a  resonant  branch. 
When  flying  away  it  is  easily  identified  by  the  showy  white 
patch  on  the  rump,  and  when  it  flies  overhead  its  golden 
wings  and  tail  are  plainly  shown. 

It  is  rather  a  shy  bird,  and  it  has  reason  to  be,  for,  in 
spite  of  the  law  protecting  it,  the  Flicker  is  hunted  in  most 
parts  of  its  range.  It  is  not  a  typical  Woodpecker.  Its 
bill  is  slightly  curved, 
and  its  tongue  has  fewer 
terminal  barbs  than  any 
other  North  American 
species.  But  the  tongue 
is  one  of  the  longest,  it 
is  studded  on  the  upper 
surface  with  fine  points 
directed  backward,  and 
the  salivary  glands  are 
large  ;  in  fact,  this  bird 
is  more  of  an  ant-eater 

than  a  Woodpecker.       It     Fig.  118.  —  Flicker,  male,  about  one-half  natural 

frequents  fields,  or- 
chards, and  open  spaces  in  the  woods,  where  it  strikes  its 
long  bill  into  anthills,  and  then  thrusts  out  its  still  longer 
tongue,  coated  with  sticky  saliva,  and  licks  up  the  out- 
rushing  ants  by  the  dozen.  Ants  constitute  about  forty-five 
per  cent,  of  its  food.  Though  useful  in  some  ways,  ants  are 
often  great  pests.  Many  kinds  are  decidedly  harmful,  as 
they  attend,  protect,  and  help  to  spread  many  aphids  that 
are  known  as  plant,  root,  or  bark  lice,  which  are  among 
the  greatest  enemies  of  certain  garden  plants,  shrubs,  and 
trees.  Ants  infest  houses,  destroy  timber,  and  have  other 
harmful  habits.  They  are  eaten  by  many  birds,  of  which 
the  Flicker  heads  the  list.  It  also  takes  beetles,  grasshop- 
pers, crickets,  caterpillars,  and  other  harmful  insects.  It  is 
fond  of  wild  cherries  and  wild  berries,  but  takes  very  little 
cultivated  fruit.  Grass  seed  and  weed  seed  are  eaten  to 
some  extent.  Occasionally  it  has  been  known  to  eat  a  little 
corn  on  the  ear.  Its  most  harmful  habit  is  exhibited  in 
southeastern  Massachusetts,  where,  especially  on  Cape  Cod, 


262  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


it  winters  in  considerable  numbers,  and  there  bores  holes 
into  the  summer  cottages  and  finds  winter  shelter  in  the 
rooms,  where  it  sometimes  does  some  damage  by  pecking 
at  the  window  sashes  and  curtains  and  in  other  ways.  If 
the  owners  of  these  cottages  had  put  up  a  few  cheap  bird- 
boxes  on  their  buildings  or  trees,  with  entrances  large 
enough  for  the  Flicker,  the  birds  might  have  used  the 
boxes,  and  never  have  contracted  the  criminal  habit  of 
breaking  and  entering. 

Yellow-bellied  Sapsucker. 
Sphyrapiciis  varius. 

Length.  —  About  eight  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult  Male. — Above,  brownish  or  yellowish,  marked  with  black  and  white; 
below,  yellowish ;  sides  black-streaked ;  a  broad  white  stripe  from  shoulder 
along  the  black  wing;  crown  and  throat  patch  crimson;  border  of  both 
patches  and  line  through  eye  black ;  a  black  breast  patch ;  belly  yellowish. 

Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  except  that  the  throat  patch  is  whitish,  instead  of 
scarlet. 

Nest  and  Eggs.  —  Much  like  those  of  other  Woodpeckers. 

Season.  — Migrates  north  through  the  State  in  April,  and  south  in  September  and 
October ;  breeds  rarely  in  Berkshire  County. 

There  would  be  no  justification  for  including  this  hand- 
somely marked  bird  among  the  useful  species  of  Massachu- 
setts, except  for  the  fact  that  in  thirty  years  no  instance 
has  come  to  my  knowledge  of  its  doing  any  appreciable 
harm  here.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  has  killed  trees 
in  northern  New  England,  where  it  breeds  ;  but,  as  it  does 
some  good  while  here  by  destroying  insects,  citizens  of  the 
State  can  have  no  shadow  of  an  excuse  for  destroying  any 
Woodpecker,  for  all  the  other  species  that  visit  this  State 
are  more  useful  than  this.  The  red  crown  and  throat,  and 
the  broad  white  stripe  or  patch  on  the  black  wing,  will  dis- 
tinguish it  from  more  useful  species. 

CUCKOOS,   KINGFISHERS,   ETC. 

Kingfishers  feed  mainly  on  fish,  but  occasionally  subsist 
very  largely  on  such  insects  as  grasshoppers.  These  birds 
are  no  doubt  necessary  to  help  maintain  the  balance  of 
nature  whenever  animals  on  which  they  feed  tend  to  in- 
crease beyond  normal  numbers.  They  are  not  of  sufficient 


SOXGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.  2G3 

economic  importance,  however,  to  receive  more  than  this 
brief  mention  here.  The  Cuckoos,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
particularly  useful.  They  have  the  reputation  of  laying  their 
eggs  in  other  birds'  nests.  This  is  true  of  the  European 
Cuckoo,  which  seems  to  be  unable  to  complete  her  clutch 
of  eggs  rapidly  enough  to  incubate  them  in  one  batch ; 
therefore  she  leaves  them  to  be  hatched  in  the  nests  of  other 
birds.  This  is  rarely  true,  however,  of  the  American  spe- 
cies, which  ordinarily  build  their  own  nests  and  hatch  their 
own  eggs.  Audubon  and  Xuttall  accused  Cuckoos  of  rob- 
bing the  nests  of  other  birds,  but  there  is  little  recent  evi- 
dence of  this  habit.  Like  Woodpeckers,  Cuckoos  have  the 
fourth  toe  reversed ;  but  apparently  the  reversion  of  this  toe 
does  not  now  assist  them  in  climbing,  even  if  it  ever  did, 
for  they  do  not  climb  like  the  Woodpeckers.  They  are 
long,  slender,  rather  shy,  modestly  colored,  and  sedentary 
birds,  which  sit  secluded  among  the  leaves,  and  are  heard 
more  than  they  are  seen. 

Black-billed  Cuckoo.     Rain  Crow. 
Coccyzus  erythrophthalmus. 

Length.  —  Nearly  twelve  inches. 

Adult.  —  Above,  olive-brown  and  gray,  with  lustrous  bronzy  reflections ;  below, 
white ;  bill  black ;  small  white  tips  to  all  but  the  two  central  tail  feathers. 
Nest.  —  Sticks  loosely  put  together  in  a  bush,  vine,  or  low  tree. 
Eggs.  —  Greenish-blue. 
Season.  —  May  to  September. 

The  Black-billed  Cuckoo  is  common  throughout  most  of 
the  State.  It  seeks  the  bushy  borders  of  streams,  ponds, 
low  woodlands,  and  swamps.  It  inhabits  the  glades  of  de- 
ciduous woods,  and  sometimes  nests  in  thickets,  but  often 
visits  orchards  and  fruit  gardens.  It  is  a  bird  of  the  trees 
and  shrubbery,  rarely  leaving  the  leafy  shades  except  to  feed 
where  caterpillars  have  defoliated  the  trees.  Although  some- 
what sedentarv,  it  flies  rapidly  and  gracefully,  but  usually 
at  no  great  height.  Upon  alighting  in  a  bush  or  a  tree  it 
generally  chooses  a  sheltered  or  hidden  position,  and,  relying 
perhaps  upon  its  close  resemblance  to  the  color  of  the  foliage, 
it  often  may  be  closely  approached. 

Its  notes  vary  much,  but  consist  commonly  of  the  syllable 


264 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


Fig.  119. -Black- 
billed  Cuckoo,  one- 
half  natural  size. 


cow,  cow,  repeated  monotonously  many  times,  and  sometimes 
preceded  by  a  short  chuckle.  The  bird  often  calls  at  night, 
and  toward  autumn  its  notes  may  sometimes  be  heard  in  the 
air  as  it  passes  overhead,  probably  in  migration.  Usually 

when  the  bird  is  heard  at 
night  in  the  spring  and  early 
summer  it  appears  to  be 
stationary.     There  is  some 
mystery  in  the  wakefulness  and 
night  flight  of  Cuckoos,  for  they  are 
certainly  as  wide-awake  at  times  as  the 
Owl  or  Whip-poor-will  at  night,  and  often 
seem  slow  and  sleepy  by  day. 

The  Cuckoos  are  of  the  greatest  service 
to  the  farmer,  by  reason  of  their  well-known  fondness  for 
caterpillars,  particularly  the  hairy  species.  No  caterpillars 
are  safe  from  the  Cuckoo.  It  does  not  matter  how  hairy  or 
spiny  they  are,  or  how  well  they 
may  be  protected  by  webs.  Often 
the  stomach  of  the  Cuckoo  will  be 
found  lined  with  a  felted  mass  of 
caterpillar  hairs,  and  sometimes 
its  intestines  are  pierced  by  the 
spines  of  the  noxious  caterpillars  that  it  has  swallowed. 
Wherever  caterpillar  outbreaks  occur  we  hear  the  calls  of 
the  Cuckoos.  There  they  stay;  there  they  bring  their 
newly  fledged  young ;  and  the  number  of  caterpillars  they 
eat  is  incredible.  Professor  Beal  states  that  two  thousand, 
seven  hundred  and  seventy-one 
caterpillars  were  found  in  the 
stomachs  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-one  Cuckoos,  —  an  aver- 
Fig.  121. -spiny  eim  caterpillar.  age  of  more  than  twenty-one  each. 

Dr.  Otto  Lugger  found  several  hundred  small  hairy  cater- 
pillars in  the  stomach  of  a  single  bird.  The  poisonous, 
spined  caterpillars  of  the  To  moth,  the  almost  equally  dis- 
agreeable caterpillars  of  the  brown-tail  moth,  and  the  spiny 
elm  caterpillar,  are  eaten  with  avidity. 

While  the  above   statements  may  apply  to  either  of  our 


Fig.  12O.  —  Caterpillar  of  the  lo 
moth. 


80XGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  ASD  WOODLAXD.    265 

Cuckoos,  the  Black-billed  Cuckoo  is  the  more  common  in 
Massachusetts,  and  is  therefore  probably  the  more  useful. 
Grasshoppers,  locusts,  and  other  insects  are  often  eaten,  but 
practically  no  cultivated  fruit  and  no  grain. 

Yellow-billed  Cuckoo. 
Coccyzus  americanus. 

Length.  —  About  twelve  inches. 

Adult.  —  Bill  black  above,  yellow  beneath;  upper  parts  olive-brown,  with  gray 
tints  and  metallic  lusters;  under  parts  white;  a  bright  cinnamon  tint  on 
wings ;  two  inner  tail  feathers  olive ;  outer  tail  feathers  blackish,  two  with 
white  outer  edge :  all  but  two  inner  tail  feathers  broadly  tipped  with  white. 

Nest.  —  A  loose  mass  of  sticks,  in  a  bush  or  tree. 

Eggs.  —  Usually  larger  and  lighter  colored  than  those  of  the  preceding  species. 

Season.  —  May  to  September. 

This  bird  is  long  and  slender,  but  it  is  a  little  larger  and 
more  robust  in  appearance  than  the  Black-billed  Cuckoo.  A 
near  view  will  show  the  yellow  of  the  under  mandible  and 


/      x<x/#/n».  :% 

^fw^ 


Fig.  122.  —  The  fall  web  worm.    The  caterpillars  (a,  b,  c)  are  eaten  by  Cuckoos. 

the  characteristic  markings  of  the  tail,  which  serve  to  distin- 
guish the  bird  in  the  field.  Moreover,  the  notes  of  this 
species  are  heavier  and  coarser  than  those  of  the  Black-billed 
Cuckoo.  Schuyler  Mathews  well  describes  a  characteristic 
cry  of  this  bird  as  Gr-r-r-olp,  cowlp,  cou'lp-olp-olp.  All  this 
is  delivered  with  little  if  any  variation  in  tone,  and  in  a  voice 
seemingly  as  deep  as  that  of  a  Heron. 


266  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


The  Yellow-billed  Cuckoo  is  common  in  eastern  Massa- 
chusetts, although  it  is  rather  more  local  than  the  preced- 
ing species ;  but  it  is  rare  in  the  highlands  of  the  northern 
and  western  counties.  Mrs.  Mabel  Osgood  Wright  states 
that  this  bird  "  seemed  to  follow  an  epidemic  of  tent  worms  " 
into  Connecticut,  and  that  it  was  abundant  for  two  years  in 
orchards  and  gardens  containing  fruit  trees.  She  asserts  that 
it  did  its  work  so  thoroughly  that  orchards  which  were  cov- 
ered with  caterpillar  webs  yielded  a  good  crop  later.  She  says 
also  that  the  Cuckoos  destroy  many  more  than  they  can  eat, 
by  tearing  the  webs  apart  and  squeezing  the  worms  with 
their  beaks.  This  is  corroborated  by  the  statements  of 
gentlemen  from  Medford,  who  have  told  me  that  they  have 
often  observed  this  habit  of  the  Cuckoo  as  practised  on  cater- 
pillars of  the  gipsy  moth  and  the  brown-tail  moth.  It  is 
said  that  these  Cuckoos,  which  were  formerly  decreasing  in 
numbers  around  Boston,  are  now  increasing.  They  are  no 
doubt  attracted  by  the  abundant  caterpillars.  This  species 
is  apparently  the  greatest  enemy  to  these  pests. 

GROUSE,    PARTRIDGES,   ETC. 

This  family  of  gallinaceous  birds  is  represented  in  Mas- 
sachusetts by  four  species.  Of  these,  the  Spruce  Grouse 
is  merely  an  accidental  visitor ;  the  Heath  Hen  is  nearing 
extermination  ;  and  the  Bob-white,  now  rare  or  wanting  in 
many  parts  of  the  State,  is  more  a  bird  of  the  field  and 
garden  than  of  the  orchard  or  woodland.  It  is  described  on 
p.  325.  This  leaves  only  one  species,  the  Ruffed  Grouse, 
to  be  considered  here,  as  the  other  species,  introduced  from 
time  to  time  from  other  parts  of  the  country,  soon  die  out 
or  are  killed  off  by  our  arms-bearing  population.  This  is 
particularly  unfortunate,  for  Massachusetts,  with  her  rocky, 
wooded  hills,  sandy  plains,  and  fertile  valleys,  her  stunted 
shrubby  growths  on  Cape  Cod  and  Martha's  Vineyard,  and 
her  many  fertile  fields,  is  naturally  a  paradise  for  Grouse  in 
summer,  and  produces  an  abundant  winter  food  supply  for 
these  hardy  birds. 


PLATE    XXI.  —  Ruffed   Grouse   on   Nest.      (Photograph  from  life.) 
(From  American  Ornithology.) 


SONGLEtiS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.     267 


Ruffed  Grouse.     Partridge. 
Bonasa  umbellus. 

Length.  —  Sixteen  to  eighteen  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Upper  parts  reddish  or  yellowish  brown,  varying  to  gray;  many 
markings;  head  crested;  large  ruffs  of  glossy  black  feathers  on  the 
sides  of  the  neck ;  tail  long  and  broad,  varying  from  reddish-brown  to 
gray,  mottled  and  barred  with  lighter  and  darker  shades ;  a  broad  black- 
ish band  near  the  tip;  under  parts  tinged  with  buff,  strongest  on  throat, 
barred  and  otherwise  marked  with  darker  shades,  particularly  on  breast 
and  sides. 

Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  but  smaller ;  ruffs  also  smaller. 

Ifest. — Lined  with  leaves,  on  ground  in  woods. 

Eggs.  —  Buffy  or  yellowish  white,  sometimes  speckled  with  a  darker  color. 

This  common  bird,  the  "king  of  American  game  birds," 
was  abundant  in  all  our  woods  and  was  often  seen  in  fields 
and  orchards  until  its  numbers  were  decimated  by  the  gunner 
and  the  survivors  driven  to  the  cover  of  the  pines.  The 
characteristic  startling  roar  of  its  wings,  with  which  it  starts 
away  when  flushed  from  the  ground,  and  its  habit  of  drum- 
ming on  a  log,  have  been  often  described.  The  speed  with 
which  the  wings  are  beaten  in  drumming  makes  it  impossible 
for  the  human  eye  to  follow  them,  and  make  sure  whether 
they  strike  anything  or  not.  Naturalists,  after  long  discus- 
sion, had  come  to  believe  that  the  so-called  drumming  of  the 
Ruffed  Grouse  was  caused  by  the  bird  beating  the  air  with 
its  wings,  as  described  by  Mr.  William  Brewster ;  but  now 
comes  Dr.  C.  F.  Hodge,  and  reopens  the  controversy  by 
exhibiting  a  series  of  photographs  which  seem  to  show  that 
the  bird  in  drumming  strikes  the  contour  feathers  of  the 
body.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  there  are  many  people  who 
often  take  outings  in  the  country,  yet  have  never  heard  the 
drumming  of  this  bird.  This  tattoo  is  most  common  in  late 
winter  and  early  spring,  but  may  be  heard  occasionally  in 
summer  and  not  uncommonly  in  fall.  While  sounded  oftenest 
during  the  day,  it  may  fall  on  the  ear  at  any  hour  of  the 
night.  In  making  it  the  bird  usually  stands  very  erect  on  a 
hollow  log  or  stump,  with  head  held  high  and  ruffs  erected 
and  spread,  and,  raising  its  wings,  strikes  downward  and 
forward.  The  sound  produced  is  a  muffled  boom  or  thump. 
It  begins  with  a  few  slow  beats,  growing  gradually  quicker, 


268  USEFUL  BIRDS. 

and  ends  in  a  rolling,  accelerated  tattoo.  It  has  a  ventrilo- 
quial  property.  Sometimes  when  one  is  very  close  to  the 
bird  the  drumming  seems  almost  soundless  ;  at  other  times 
it  seems  much  louder  at  a  distance,  as  if  through  some  prin- 
ciple of  acoustics  it  were  most  distinctly  audible  at  a  certain 
radius  from  the  bird.  It  is  the  bird's  best  expression  of  its 
abounding  vigor  and  virility,  and  signifies  that  the  drummer 
is  ready  for  love  or  war. 

The  female  alone  undertakes  the  task  of  incubation  and 
the  care  of  the  young.  Once,  however,  when  I  came  upon 
a  young  brood,  the  agonized  cry  of  the  distressed  mother 
attracted  a  fine  cock  bird.  He  raised  all  his  feathers,  and, 
with  ruffs  and  tail  spread,  strutted  up  to  within  a  rod  of 
my  position,  seemingly  almost  as  much  concerned  as  the 
female,  but  not  coming  quite  so  near.  The  hen  sometimes 
struts  toward  the  intruder  in  a  similar  manner  when  sur- 
prised while  with  her  young.  She  can  raise  her  ruffs  and 
strut  exactly  like  the  cock. 

The  Grouse  has  so  many  enemies  that  it  seems  remarkable 
how  it  can  escape  them,  nesting,  as  it  does,  on  the  ground. 
Instances  are  on  record,  however,  where  birds  that  probably 
have  been  much  persecuted  have  learned  to  deposit  their 
eggs  in  old  nests  of  Hawks  or  Crows,  in  tall  trees.  When- 
ever the  mother  bird  leaves  the  nest  the  eggs  are  easily  seen, 
and  while  she  sits  it  would  seem  impossible  for  her  where- 
abouts to  remain  a  secret  to  the  keen-scented  prowlers  of  the 
woods.  But  her  colors  blend  so  perfectly  with  those  of  the 
dead  leaves  on  the  forest  floor,  and  she  sits  so  closely  arid 
remains  so  motionless  among  the  shadows,  that  she  escapes 
the  sharp-eyed  Hawk.  She  gives  out  so  little  scent  that  the 
dog,  skunk,  or  fox  often  passes  quite  near,  unnoticing. 

The  Grouse  does  not  naturally  fear  man  ;  more  than  once 
in  the  wilderness  of  the  northwest  a  single  bird  has  walked 
up  to  within  a  few  feet  of  me.  They  will  sit  on  limbs 
just  above  one's  head,  almost  within  reach,  and  regard  one 
curiously,  but  Avithout  much  alarm.  Usually  in  Massachu- 
setts when  a  human  being  conies  near  the  nest  the  mother 
bird  whirs  loudly  away.  She  has  well  learned  the  fear  of 
man  ;  but  in  a  place  where  no  shooting  was  permitted,  a  large 


PLATE  XXII.  —  Ruffed  Grouse,  One  Day  old.  (Photograph, 
from  life,  by  C.  F.  Hodge.)  (From  the  annual  report  of  the 
Massachusetts  Commissioners  on  Fisheries  and  Game,  1905.) 


PLATE  XXIII.  — Ruffed  Grouse,  Four  Months  old.  (Photograph, 
from  life,  by  C.  F.  Hodge.)  (From  the  annual  report  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Commissioners  on  Fisheries  and  Game,  1905.) 


•'••fc. 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.  269 

gang  of  men  were  cutting  underbrush,  while  a  Partridge 
sitting  there  remained  quietly  on  her  nest  as  the  men  worked 
noisily  all  about  her.  Another  bird  that  nested  beside  a 
woods  road,  along  which  I  walked  daily,  at  first  would  fly 
before  I  had  come  within  a  rod  of  her  ;  but  later  she  became 
confiding  enough  to  sit  on  her  nest  while  six  persons  passed 
close  beside  her.  Evidently  the  bird's  facility  in  concealing 
her  nest  consists  in  sitting  close  and  keeping  her  eggs  well 
covered.  Her  apparent  faith  in  her  invisibility  is  overcome 
only  by  her  fear  of  man  or  her  dread  of  the  fox.  When  the 
fox  is  seen  approaching  directly  toward  her  she  bristles  up 
and  flies  at  him,  in  the  attempt  to  frighten  him  with  the 
sudden  roar  of  her  wings  and  the  impetuosity  of  her  attack  ; 
but  Reynard,  although  at  first  taken  aback,  cannot  always 
be  deceived  by  such  tricks  ;  and  the  poor  bird,  in  her  anxiety 
to  defend  her  nest,  only  betrays  its  whereabouts.  Probably, 
however,  the  fox  rarely  finds  her  nest  unless  he  happens  to 
blunder  directly  into  it. 

Dr.  C.  F.  Hodge  made  some  interesting  experiments  with 
two  trained  bird  dogs,  a  pointer  and  a  setter,  neither  of 
which  could  find  a  Partridge  as  she  sat  quietly  on  her  nest. 
The  theory  often  used  to  explain  this  is,  that  the  bird,  being 
frightened,  sits  with  her  feathers  drawn  close  to  her  body, 
and  so  "holds  her  scent."  This  is  a  matter,  however,  that 
should  be  investigated  with  scientific  accuracy ;  for,  in  spite 
of  all  theories,  the  manner  in  which  the  bird  escapes  dis- 
covery still  remains  a  mystery.  The  protection,  whatever 
it  is,  is  not  always  infallible,  for  occasionally  a  fox  or  dog 
discovers  the  sitting  bird  apparently  by  scent.  Mr.  William 
Brewster  tells  me  that  one  of  his  dogs  once  found  a  Wood- 
cock on  her  nest.  All  the  young  Grouse  in  a  nest  hatch  at 
nearly  the  same  instant,  their  feathers  dry  very  rapidly,  and 
they  are  soon  ready  to  run  about.  When  able  to  travel, 
they  leave  the  nest,  and  from  that  moment  they  become  wan- 
derers on  the  face  of  the  earth.  It  is  often  asserted  that  the 
Partridge  leads  her  brood  about  after  the  manner  of  a  Hen 
with  her  Chickens.  This  may  be  true  in  some  cases  ;  but 
I  think  the  young  birds  usually  scatter  and  forage  mainly 
for  themselves.  They  run  about,  stealing  noiselessly  along 


270  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


among  the  dead  leaves,  under  the  foliage  of  ferns  and  shrub- 
bery, continually  taking  insects  from  leaf,  stem,  and  frond, 
or  picking  them  from  the  ground.  Meanwhile,  the  mother 
marches  slowly  in  their  rear,  perhaps  to  guard  them  against 
surprise  from  any  keen-scented  animal  that  may  follow  on 
the  trail.  She  seems  to  be  almost  always  on  the  alert,  and 
a  single  warning  note  from  her  will  cause  the  young  birds  to 
flatten  themselves  on  the  ground  or  to  hide  under  leaves, 
where  they  will  often  remain  motionless  until  they  are 
trodden  upon,  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  betraying  them- 
selves by  attempting  to  escape.  For  this  reason  any  one 
who  disturbs  a  Partridge  with  her  brood  should  be  very  care- 
ful not  to  approach  too  closely,  lest  he  tread  on  the  young 
birds.  When,  as  sometimes  happens,  the  intruder  has  taken 
the  mother  unawares,  and  approached  close  to  her  tender 
brood,  she  seems  nearly  distracted  in  her  anxiety,  and,  scream- 
ing, flies  directly  at  her  enemy.  The  sound  she  makes  at 
such  times  has  been  likened  to  the  whine  of  a  young  puppy  ; 
but  to  my  mind  her  first  cry  more  nearly  resembles  the 
squeal  a  rabbit  gives  when  startled  in  the  moonlit  woods. 
When  thus  surprised  the  young  may  be  seen  for  a  brief 
moment  as  they  run  or  fly,  seeking  a  safe  hiding-place, 
while  the  mother  attempts  to  lead  their  pursuer  away  by 
feigning  lameness  and  fluttering  along  the  ground.  Should 
this  transparent  ruse  succeed,  she  then  flies  off  as  well  as 
ever,  and  remains  away  until  she  believes  all  danger  has 
passed,  when  she  quietly  returns  and  calls  her  brood.  Evi- 
dently even  the  sharp-nosed  fox  finds  it  hard  to  detect  the 
little  birds  so  long  as  they  lie  quiet,  and  they  seem  to  leave 
little  or  no  scent  as  they  run  rapidly  over  the  dry  leaves. 
Some  keen-eyed  Hawk  occasionally  gets  one,  and  they  some- 
times succumb  to  a  disease  aggravated  by  exposure  to  heavy, 
continuous  rains.  Woodticks  and  lice  together  are  said  to 
be  fatal  to  them,  and  a  species  of  botfly  is  said  to  attack 
them ;  but  under  ordinary  conditions  about  half  of  each 
brood  comes  to  maturity. 

The  wing  quills  grow  very  fast,  and  before  many  days 
have  passed  the  little  chicks  can  fly  short  distances.  Audu- 
bon  says  he  has  seen  them  fly  a  few  feet  when  but  six  or 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.  271 

seven  days  old.  I  saw  a  single  bird  about  three  weeks  old 
start  from  a  hilltop  with  its  mother,  and,  ascending  among 
the  tree  tops,  fly  into  a  hollow  more  than  a  hundred  yards 
away.  Prof.  C.  F.  Hodge  told  me  that  a  three-weeks  chick 
which  he  was  rearing  became  frightened  one  day,  and  dis- 
appeared over  the  trees  ;  an  hour  later  it  flew  back. 

During  the  fall,  the  Grouse  keep  together  in  small  flocks. 
Sometimes  a  dozen  birds  may  be  found  around  some  favorite 
grape  vine  or  apple  tree,  but  they  are  usually  so  harried  and 
scattered  by  gunners  that  toward  winter  the  old  birds  may 
sometimes  be  found  alone. 

As  winter  approaches,  this*  hardy  bird  puts  on  its  "  snow- 
shoes,"  which  consist  of  a  fringe  of  horny  processes  or  pecti- 
nations that  grow  out  along  each  toe,  and  help  to  distribute 
the  weight  of  the  bird  over  a  larger  surface,  and  so  allow  it 
to  walk  over  snows  into  which  a  bird  not  so  provided  would 
sink  deeply.  Its  digestion  must  resemble  that  of  the  famous 
Ostrich,  as  broken  twigs  and  dry  leaves  are  ground  up  in  its 
mill.  It  is  a  hard  winter  that  will  starve  the  Grouse.  A 
pair  spent  many  winter  nights  in  a  little  cave  in  the  rocky 
wall  of  an  old  quarry.  Sumacs  grew  there,  and  many  rank 
weeds.  The  birds  lived  well  on  sumac  berries,  weed  seeds, 
and  buds. 

Sometimes,  but  perhaps  rarely,  these  birds  are  imprisoned 
under  the  snow  by  the  icy  crust  which  forms  in  cold  weather 
following  a  rain,  but  usually  they  are  vigorous  enough  to 
find  a  way  out  somewhere.  The  Grouse  is  perfectly  at  home 
beneath  the  snow  ;  it  will  dive  into  it  to  escape  a  Hawk,  and 
can  move  rapidly  about  beneath  the  surface  and  burst  out 
again  in  rapid  flight  at  some  unexpected  place. 

The  Ruffed  Grouse  is  a  bird  of  the  woodland,  and,  though 
useful  in  the  woods,  it  sometimes  does  some  injury  in  the 
orchard  by  removing  too  many  buds  from  a  single  tree.  In 
winter  and  early  spring,  when  other  food  is  buried  by  the 
snow  and  hard  to  obtain,  the  Grouse  lives  largely  on  the  buds 
and  green  twigs  of  trees ;  but  as  spring  advances,  insects 
form  a  considerable  part  of  the  food.  The  young  feed  very 
largely  on  insects,  including  many  very  destructive  species. 

While  I  have  often  observed  the  young  birds  feeding  on 


272  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


insects,  it  was  usually  impossible  to  make  out  just  what  those 
insects  were  ;  but  in  confinement  the  young  are  very  fond 
of  flies,  maggots,  beetles,  slugs,  thrips,  plant  lice  of  various 
kinds,  and  spiders.  Professor  Forbes  found  mostly  insects 
in  the  stomachs  of  three  birds  about  three  days  old.  They 
had  eaten  cutworms,  grasshoppers,  Lampyrid  beetles,  ants, 
parasitic  wasps,  buffalo  tree  hoppers,  and  spiders.  Professor 
King  found  that  a  Grouse  about  a  week  out  of  the  shell  had 
eaten  a  white  grub,  seven  spiders,  and  thirteen  caterpillars. 
I  found  in  July  the  remains  of  a  young  bird  that  had  been 
killed  by  a  Hawk;  it  must  have  been  at  least  six  weeks  old. 
Its  stomach  contained  beetles  and  the  seeds  of  weeds.  The 
young  are  often  found  in  grassy  fields  and  pastures  near 
woods.  I  have  seen  them  apparently  catching  grasshoppers, 
crickets,  and  other  grass-eating  insects  in  such  localities,  and 
they  seem  as  fond  of  such  food  as  are  young  Chickens. 
Whenever  such  insects  are  plentiful,  they  form  a  part  of  the 
summer  food  of  the  birds.  Young  Grouse  evidently  are  very 
useful  as  insect  eaters,  but  as  they  grow  older  they  depend 
more  upon  vegetable  food.  Dr.  Judd,  who  has  given  the 
best  account  of  the  food  of  the  Grouse,  says  that  at  Chocorua, 
N.  H.,  in  September,  1898,  they  were  feeding  very  largely 
on  the  red-legged  grasshopper  or  locust  (Melanoplus  femur- 
rubrum) ,  a  very  destructive  insect.  Seven  adult  birds,  killed 
in  the  breeding  season,  had  eaten  insects  to  the  amount  of 
thirty  per  cent,  of  their  food. 

The  Ruffed  Grouse  at  times  eats  many  caterpillars,  par- 
ticularly those  species  which,  like  the  cutworms  and  army 
worms,  live  largely  upon  the  ground. 

''    seems   lin)]);ll)l(1    :ils"    (li:it     !t    takes 
caterpillars  from  the  trees,  as  num- 
Fig.  123.  — Red-humped      bers  of  red-humped  apple  caterpillars 

caterpillar.  /  ry  7.  •  x  T          i  -i 

(tSchizura  concmna)  and  oak  caterpil- 
lars (Symmerista  albifrons}  have  been  found  in  its  stomach. 
Dr.  Judd  says  that  the  Grouse  prefers  beetles  to  other  insects. 
This  seems  to  be  true  of  the  young  also,  although  when  first 
hatched  they  appear  to  relish  softer-bodied  insects  more. 
The  old  birds  are  persistent  scratchers,  and  unearth  many 
ground  beetles,  which  they  eat  greedily.  They  sometimes 


SONGLESS  BIRDS  OF  ORCHARD  AND  WOODLAND.  273 

feed  on  the  potato  beetle  and  other  very  injurious  leaf-eating 

beetles,  including  flea  beetles,  grape-vine  beetles,  and  May 

beetles.     Also,  they  take  wood-boring  beetles,  which  they 

find  mainly  about  stumps  and  fallen  trees. 

Ants  are  eaten,  and  bugs,  including  leaf 

hoppers  and  tree  hoppers.     Many  birds  eat 

gall  insects,  but  the  Grouse  eats  them  galls 

and  all.     Besides  the  insects  taken,  it  eats     Pig.  12 4. -Tree 

a  few  spiders  and  small  snails. 

Although  Grouse  eat  largely  of  insects  during  spring  and 
summer,  this  habit  has  not  been  much  noticed,  chiefly  be- 
cause most  of  the  birds  whose  stomachs  have  been  examined 
were  shot  in  the  late  fall  or  in  the  winter  months,  when  the 
food  is  almost  entirely  vegetable.  "The  Buffed  Grouse," 
says  Dr.  Judd,  "spends  most  of  its  feeding  time  in  browsing 
and  berry  picking."  In  the  fall,  winter,  and  early  spring, 
seeds,  berries,  buds,  leaves,  and  even  twigs,  form  its  prin- 
cipal food.  A  great  deal  of  this  material  is  eaten  through- 
out the  year  wherever  it  can  be  obtained.  Dr.  Judd  gives 
the  percentage  of  "browse"  eaten  as  forty-eight  and  eleven 
hundredths  of  its  entire  food  for  the  season,  and  the  per- 
centage of  berries  as  twenty-eight  and  thirty-two  hundredths. 
Buds  form  twenty  per  cent,  of  its  food  for  the  year.  The 
seeds  eaten  are  mainly  tree  seed,  and  those  of  such  weeds 
as  grow  in  clearings,  along  walls  and  fences,  or  on  the 
borders  of  woods.  Grain  is  very  rarely  taken.  A  partial 
list  of  the  vegetable  food  of  the  Grouse  is  given  below. 
It  is  largelv  compiled  from  the  bulletin  by  Dr.  Judd  on  the 
Grouse  and  Wild  Turkeys  of  the  United  States,  which  is 
the  most  complete  list  yet  published. 

Xuts  or  Seeds. 

Hazelnuts,  beechnuts,  chestnuts,  acorns.  Seeds  of  tick  trefoil,  horn- 
beam, vetch,  hemlock,  pitch  pine,  maple,  blackberry  lily,  beggar's 
ticks,  ehickweed,  sheep  sorrel,  sedges,  violet,  witch-hazel,  beech  drops, 
avens,  persicaria,  frost  weed,  jewel  weed. 

Buds,  Blossoms,  or  Foliage. 

Of  poplar,  birch,  willow,  apple,  pear,  peach,  alder,  hazel,  beech, 
iromvood,  hornbeam,  blackberry,  blueberry,  spruce,  arbor  vita?,  May- 
flower, laurel,  maple,  spicebush,  partridge  berry,  sheep  sorrel,  aster, 


274  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


green  ovary  of  bloodroot,  clover,  purslane,  wood  sorrel,  yellow  sorrel, 
heuchera,  chickweed,  catnip,  cinquefoil,  buttercup,  speedwell,  saxi- 
frage, live-forever,  meadow  rue,  smilax,  horsetail  rush,  azalea,  false 
goat's  beard,  dandelion,  cudweed. 

Fruit. 

Rose  hips,  grapes,  smooth  sumac,  dwarf  sumac,  staghorn  sumac, 
scarlet  sumac,  poison  ivy,  partridge  berry,  thorn  apple,  cockspur 
thorn,  scarlet  thorn,  mountain  ash,  wintergreen,  bayberry,  blackberry, 
huckleberry,  blueberry,  cranberry,  sarsaparilla  berries,  greenbrier, 
hairy  Solomon's  seal,  smooth  Solomon's  seal,  black  raspberry,  rasp- 
berry, domestic  cherry,  cultivated  plum,  wild  black  cherry,  wild  red 
cherry,  elder,  red  elder,  black  haw,  nannyberry,  withe  rod,  maple- 
leaved  arrow  wood,  high -bush  cranberry,  mountain  cranberry,  snow- 
berry,  feverwort,  black  huckleberry,  black  alder,  flowering  dogwood, 
bunchberry,  cornel,  silky  cornel,  pepperidge,  mulberry,  bittersweet, 
manzanita,  barberry,  Virginia  creeper. 

By  saving  or  propagating  the  plants  in  this  list,  some- 
thing may  be  done  toward  increasing  the  numbers  of  this 
persecuted  game  bird. 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IN  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.       275 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  UTILITY  OF  BIRDS  IN  FIELD  AND  GARDEN. 

In  the  grass  field  or  meadow,  as  in  the  wood  lot,  natural 
conditions  are  simulated.  Each  year  until  haying  time  the 
grass  offers  cover  and  shelter  for  the  nests  of  such  birds 
as  breed  on  the  ground  in  natural  meadows,  savannas,  or 
prairies.  The  grass  and  other  plants  of  the  field  also  pro- 
vide food  for  birds,  and  for  insects  on  which  birds  feed.  As 
in  woodlands,  there  is  established  a  natural  interdependence 
between  the  bird  and  its  food  and  shelter,  —  the  insects  and 
the  grass. 

The  habits  of  birds  that  live  in  fields  have  become  ad- 
justed to  those  of  the  native  insects  which  also  live  there, 
so  that  the  abundance  of  these  insects  is  largely  controlled 
by  these  birds,  while  the  abundance  of  the  birds  is  regulated 
chiefly  by  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  insects  on  which  they  feed. 
Some  of  the  most  useful  birds  of  the  farm  live  and  breed  in 
the  fields  ;  others  breed  along  walls  and  fences.  Early  cut- 
ting of  the  grass  on  fields  and  meadows  reduces  the  num- 
ber of  birds  that  breed  there,  for  it  destroys  their  nests  or 
takes  away  the  shelter  of  the  grass  from  their  young  ;  but 
it  also  checks  the  grass  insects,  and  exposes  them  to  attacks 
from  Robins,  Crows,  and  other  birds  that  nest  in  woodland 
or  orchard,  but  prefer  to  feed  in  the  field. 

When,  for  any  reason,  the  numbers  of  birds  in  the  field 
are  insufficient,  insects  increase ;  but  in  such  cases  the  field 
birds  are  assisted  in  their  work  by  birds  of  shore,  swamp, 
orchard,  and  woodland.  A  similar  service  is  often  recipro- 
cated to  orchard  or  woodland  by  the  birds  of  the  fields, 
many  of  which  flock  to  the  trees  to  quell  outbreaks  of  cat- 
erpillars or  other  tree  pests. 

Grasshoppers,  army  worms,  cutworms,  and  the  grubs  of 
May  beetles  are  among  the  most  destructive  insect  enemies 
of  the  grasses  of  this  State."  Nearly  all  field  birds  feed  upon 


276  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


such  insects.  Without  birds  it  is  doubtful  if  crops  of  grass 
could  be  raised ;  for  the  grub  of  a  single  species  of  beetle, 
if  unchecked,  could  readily  destroy  all  the  grass  roots  of 
our  meadows ;  and  any  one  of  several  species  of  cutworms 
or  army  worms  might  be  sufficient  to  destroy  all  the  crops 
above  ground.  As  it  is,  however,  where  the  birds  of  the 
field  are  undisturbed  they  tend  to  hold  the  grass  insects  in 
check,  so  that  the  farmers  are  able  to  get  good  crops  of 
grass  without  using  any  insecticides  whatever.  Therefore, 
we  are  largely  indebted  to  birds  for  our  grass  crop. 

Wherever  the  numbers  of  birds  are  much  reduced,  there 
is  danger  of  a  corresponding  reduction  in  the  grass  yield. 
Prof.  J.  Y.  P.  Jenks  once  told  of  an  experience  related  to 
him  regarding  an  occurrence  many  years  ago  in  Bridgewater, 
Mass.  A  great  hunt  was  held  by  the  townspeople  in  the 
spring  of  the  year,  and  so  many  birds  were  killed  that  their 
bodies  were  used  to  fertilize  the  soil.  The  following  sum- 
mer the  trees  in  that  town  were  stripped  of  their  leaves,  and 
great  patches  of  grass  withered  away  and  died.  Such  results 
must  be  expected  wherever  the  number  of  birds  in  a  region 
is  suddenly  and  greatly  reduced,  and  the  pressure  exerted  by 
them  upon  the  hosts  of  insects  is  as  suddenly  released. 

In  preparing  the  garden  or  cultivated  field,  natural  condi- 
tions are  overturned.  If  in  making  a  garden  we  desire  to 
use  a  piece  of  land  covered  with  trees,  we  must  first  clear  it. 
By  cutting  trees  and  uprooting  and  burning  stumps  and 
underbrush  we  remove  the  natural  shelter  and  nesting  places 
for  birds,  and  to  a  great  extent  destroy  their  food.  Some 
woodland  insects  may  persist,  and  later  attack  the  growing 
crops  ;  but  the  birds  which  formerly  lived  in  the  woods  are 
driven  away. 

If  the  land  intended  for  our  garden  be  natural  meadow  or 
prairie,  we  must  dispose  of  the  grass,  and  so  the  sod  is  turned 
under.  As  in  the  woodland,  both  the  shelter  and  nesting 
places  of  the  birds  are  destroyed,  together  with  most  of 
their  food.  Such  insects  as  pass  part  of  their  lives  in  the 
ground,  like  the  white  grubs  and  cutworms,  may  survive  and 
eventually  come  to  live  on  the  fruits  of  our  labors ;  but  the 
birds  are  driven  out. 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IN  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.       277 

Usually  there  is  no  nesting  place  in  the  garden  for  tree- 
breeding  birds,  and  the  operations  of  tillage  and  weeding 
make  nesting  unsafe  and  impracticable  for  the  ground  birds. 
Where  tillage  is  not  very  frequent  or  strenuous,  a  few  birds 
may  nest  in  the  garden.  There  was  a  time  when  Sparrows 
frequently  built  their  nests  in  potato  hills,  and  Sandpipers 
reared  their  young  in  cornfields  ;  but  more  intensive  cultiva- 
tion has  driven  them  out.  Birds  now  rarely  breed  in  culti- 
vated fields  or  gardens,  except  where  trees,  bushes,  or  vines 
furnish  them  nesting  places  ;  but  the  farmer  prefers  to  have 
no  trees  in  the  garden,  as  they  interfere  with  the  cultivation 
of  other  plants,  and  so  the  birds  are  kept  out.  We  have, 
therefore,  practically  no  garden  birds,  and  the  service  that 
we  get  from  birds  in  the  garden  must  be  rendered  by  those 
which  come  there  from  woodland,  orchard,  swamp,  field,  or 
meadow,  or  those  which,  like  the  Swallows  and  Swifts,  fly 
over  the  garden  and  take  insects  in  the  air. 

But  if  a  bird  conies  into  the  garden,  it  is  often  regarded 
with  suspicion  ;  and  if  it  takes  a  few  peas,  strawberries,  or 
a  little  corn,  it  is  fortunate  to  escape  with  its  life.  All 
services  the  bird  has  rendered  or  may  render  are  lost  sight 
of  in  view  of  the  fact  that  it  has  taken  some  of  the  fruits  of 
man's  toil.  We  can  feed  our  cattle,  our  hogs,  a  vagabond 
homeless  cat,  a  stray  dog,  or  a  tramp ;  but  if  a  bird  claims 
any  of  our  bounty,  capital  punishment  is  not  too  severe 
for  it. 

The  garden  has  become  a  paradise  for  insects.  Here  they 
find  the  most  succulent  food  plants,  finely  developed,  and 
grown  in  patches  or  masses,  —  often  by  the  acre.  Abundant 
opportunity  is  thus  offered  for  the  increase  and  spread  of 
insects  which  confine  themselves  to  a  few  food  plants.  In- 
sects leave  the  wild  plants  on  which  they  formerly  fed,  and 
gather  to  the  feast  in  the  garden.  They  increase  in  numbers  ; 
they  multiply  a  thousand  fold.  The  few  birds  that  now  ven- 
ture into  the  garden  select  such  insects  as  they  like  best,  and 
the  rest  run  riot  among  the  crops. 

Partly  for  the  foregoing  reasons,  and  partly  because  some 
of  the  most  important  garden  pests  have  nauseous  or  poison- 
ous secretions  and  are  eaten  by  few  birds,  we  get  much  less 


278  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


assistance  from  birds  in  our  gardens  than  in  our  woodlands 
or  fields.  Nevertheless,  the  few  species  that  follow  the 
plow  and  glean  among  the  various  vegetables  are  of  the  ut- 
most value  to  the  farmer,  who  in  the  ordinary  course  must 
depend  largely  on  them  to  protect  his  crops  from  certain 
insects  that  are  difficult  of  control.  Cutworms,  army  worms, 
and  cabbage  worms  are  a  fewof  the  garden  pests  which  are 
eaten  by  birds,  and  which  birds  might  control  if  sufficiently 
numerous.  The  squash  bug  and  the  Colorado  potato  beetle 
are  two  insects  which  are  seldom  eaten,  or  by  but  few  birds. 

Many  of  the  birds  of  garden  and  field  may  be  brought  to 
assist  the  farmer  in  his  battle  against  weeds.  A  weed  is  a 
useful  plant  in  nature,  and  fulfils  its  purpose  by  filling  bar- 
ren or  unoccupied  soil  with  roots,  preventing  a  waste  of  that 
most  valuable  fertilizing  constituent,  nitrogen,  and  adding, 
by  its  decay,  to  the  amount  of  humus  and  plant  food  in  the 
soil.  In  the  garden  and  field,  however,  these  wild  plants 
are  out  of  place,  for  the  farmer  wishes  to  cultivate  the 
corn,  the  bean,  the  potato,  or  other  useful  plants  and  various 
grasses,  all  of  which,  if  left  to  themselves,  may  be  dwarfed, 
stifled,  or  replaced  by  a  vigorous  growth  of  weeds,  which 
spring  up  unbidden  from  the  soil. 

Dr.  Judd  tells  us  that  a  single  plant  of  one  species  of 
weed  may  mature  as  many  as  a  hundred  thousand  seeds  in 
a  season  ;  and  if  these  were  unchecked,  they  might  in  the 
third  year  produce  ten  million  plants.  In  competition  with 
this  bewildering  multiplication,  the  corn  or  the  bean,  the 
wheat  or  the  rye,  with  their  comparatively  few  seeds,  must 
soon  succumb. 

Constant  use  of  the  cultivator  and  hoe  will  do  much  to 
eradicate  weeds  from  cultivated  land,  but  they  are  always 
present  in  the  grass  field  ;  and,  as  most  of  the  grass  is  cut 
after  the  seeds  have  ripened,  and  fed  to  farm  animals,  there 
are  always  weed  seeds  present  in  the  manure  which  is  used 
in  garden  and  field.  Thus  the  farmer  annually  sows  weed 
seed  in  his  cultivated  land. 

Even  when  the  garden  is  kept  clear  of  weeds,  there  are 
still  weeds  around  the  edges  of  fields  and  gardens,  and  along 
roadsides,  ditches,  and  hedgerows,  which  continually  seed 


UTILITY  OF  BIRDS   IN  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.       279 

down  the  near-by  land.  Most  land  is  full  of  weed  seed, 
which  retains  its  vitality  for  from  five  to  seven  years,  so  that 
weeds  alwaj-s  spring  up  at  once  and  spread  rapidly  in  lands 
that  are  uncared  for.  The  life  of  the  gardener  is  a  perpetual 
warfare  against  weeds.  In  this  fight  many  birds  of  the  field 
may  be  of  some  assistance  against  the  weeds  which  annually 
spring  up,  flourish,  and  die,  and  therefore  are  dependent  on 
seed  alone  to  perpetuate  their  species.  A  goodly  number  of 
the  birds  of  the  field  feed  largely  on  the  seeds  of  such  weeds, 
and  many  of  them  subsist  almost  entirely  on  weed  seeds 
during  the  fall,  winter,  and  early  spring.  The  quantity  of 
such  seeds  annually  eaten  by  birds  in  Massachusetts  is  be- 
yond computation.  Where  seed-eating  birds  are  numerous, 
they  get  nearly  all  the  seeds  of  certain  weeds  ;  and  if  the 
farmer  takes  pains  to  attract  and  protect  them,  they  may  be 
of  great  assistance  to  him  in  the  problem  of  weed  destruc- 
tion. Their  benefits  are  greatest  among  hoed  crops,  for  in 
such  fields  the  largest  number  of  weeds  find  opportunity  for 
growth. 

Dr.  Judd  says  that  the  principal  weeds  which  birds  prevent 
from  seeding  are  ragweed,  pigeon  grass,  smartweed,  bind- 
weed, crab  grass,  lamb's  quarters,  and  pigweed  ;  but  these 
are  only  a  few  of  the  seeds  eaten  by  birds,  as  will  be  seen 
later.  During  cold  weather  many  of  the  birds  about  the 
farm  gorge  themselves  with  the  seeds  of  weeds,  filling  stom- 
ach and  gullet  almost  to  the  throat.  Some  species  feed 
in  weedy  gardens  and  fields  ;  others  are  found  more  along 
the  roadsides  and  the  edges  of  thickets  or  woodlands  ;  while 
still  others,  like  the  Snowflake  and  the  Meadow  Lark,  seek 
open  fields  by  preference.  As  a  single  Snowflake  can  eat 
a  thousand  seeds  of  pigweed  at  a  meal,  the  effect  produced 
upon  a  weedy  field  by  a  flock  of  one  hundred  or  two  hundred 
birds  is  very  marked.  They  alight  among  the  weeds,  and  as 
fast  as  each  bird  exhausts  its  part  of  the  supply  it  rises  and 
flies  over  the  flock  to  the  untouched  weeds  beyond ;  and  so 
the  flock  rolls  along,  until  perchance  the  birds  have  stripped 
the  seed  from  practically  all  the  exposed  weeds  in  the  field. 

The  various  species  of  birds  have  different  feeding  habits. 
Goldfinches,  Pine  Finches,  and  Crossbills,  for  instance,  cling 


280  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


to  the  weeds  and  take  the  seeds  from  the  stalks ;  while  Song 
Sparrows  and  Chipping  Sparrows  subsist  largely  on  such 
seeds  as  they  can  find  on,  or  reach  from,  the  ground.  Song 
Sparrows,  Fox  Sparrows,  and  Tree  Sparrows  are  persistent 
scratchers,  and  dig  out  seed  that  has  already  fallen,  and  is 
buried  by  dead  leaves,  straw,  earth,  or  other  litter.  Meadow 
Larks  and  Quail  are  useful  in  digging  out  seed  from  the 
ground,  which,  already  buried,  would  otherwise  spring  up 
and  grow.  When  the  snow  is  deep,  a  large  proportion  of 
the  seed-eaters  must  of  necessity  go  south ;  but  as  soon  as 
the  ground  is  bare,  they  return  to  scratch  and  dig  for  their 
favorite  food.  Thus,  as  various  species  of  differing  habits 
and  different  haunts  frequent  the  fields  and  their  borders,  and 
as  the  work  of  one  supplements  that  of  another,  they  exert 
together  a  constant  repressive  influence  against  the  undue 
multiplication  of  weeds.  The  birds  most  actively  employed 
in  consuming  weed  seed  in  field  and  garden  are  Sparrows 
and  Finches,  Blackbirds,  Cowbirds,  Meadowlarks,  Doves, 
and  Quail. 

Dr.  Judd  found  about  five  hundred  and  twenty-five  birds 
eating  weed  seed  from  a  single  acre  of  truck  land  on  a  Mary- 
land farm,  and  estimated  that  they  destroyed  forty-six  thou- 
sand seeds  for  their  breakfast.  About  the  last  of  April  he 
attempted  to  learn  what  proportion  of  the  weed  seed  on  the 
place  had  been  destroyed  by  birds  during  the  fall  and  winter. 
In  a  wheat  field  where  ragweed  was  plentiful  it  was  difficult 
to  find  half  a  dozen  seeds  in  a  fifteen-minute  search.  In  a 
growth  of  pigeon  grass  the  examination  of  an  area  where 
there  had  been  hundreds  of  seeds  the  year  before  would 
sometimes  fail  to  disclose  one  ;  and  in  some  crab  grass  in  the 
same  field  not  one  seed  out  of  a  thousand  was  left. 

The  following  list  of  seeds  eaten  by  birds,  taken  from  Dr. 
Judd's  interesting  account  of  the  "Birds  of  a  Maryland 
Farm,"  will  serve  to  indicate  the  habits  of  the  same  birds  in 
Massachusetts.  It  will  be  noted  that  most  of  the  weeds  in 
this  list  are  common  here,  and  some  of  them  are  very  abun- 
dant, widespread,  and  troublesome.  Chickweed  seeds  ma- 
ture very  quickly,  and  purslane  has  to  be  dug  up  and  carried 
out  of  the  field,  else  it  will  persist  in  spite  of  the  gardener. 


UTILITY   OF  BIRDS   IN  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.       281 


Noxious  Seeds  eaten  by  Birds. 


Bull  thistle  (  Carduus  lanceolatus) . 

Beggar's  ticks  (Bidens  frondosa) . 

Sneezeweed  (Hclenium  autum- 
nale). 

Ragweed  (Ambrosia  artemisice- 
folia) . 

Giant  ragweed  (Ambrosia  trifida) . 

Sow  thistle  (Sonchus  oleraceus). 

Dandelion  ( Taraxacum  taraxa- 
cum). 

Wild  lettuce  (Lactnca  spicata). 

Black  bindweed  (Polygomtm  con- 
volvulus). 

Pennsylvania  persicaria  (Polygo- 
mim  pennsylvanicum) . 

Knotweed  (Polygonum  aviculare). 

Climbing  false  buckwheat  (Polyg- 
onum  scandens) . 

Bitter  dock  (Rumex  obtusifolius} . 

Curled  dock  (Rumex  crisjms). 

Sheep  sorrel  (Rtimex  acetosella). 

Crab  grass  (Panicum  sanguinale) . 

Pigeon  grass  (  Chcetochloa  glauca) . 

Green  foxtail  grass  (Chcetochloa 
viridis) . 

Broom-sedge  (Andropogon  virgin- 


Sheathed   rush-grass  (Sporobulus 

vagince-florus) . 
Poverty  grass  (Aristida  sp.). 
Yard  grass  (Eleufsine  indiccC). 
Bermuda   grass    (Capriola  dacty- 

lori) . 

Paspalum  (Paspalum  sp.). 
Sedge  (Cy perns'). 
Sassafras     (Sassafras  sassafras). 
Blackberry  (Rubus  villosus). 
Pokeberry  (Phytolacca  decandra). 
Partridge     pea     (Cassia    chamce- 

crista) . 

Sweet  clover  (Melilotus  alba) . 
Tick -trefoil  (Meibomia  nudiflord) . 
Snowdrops    (Kneiffia  fruiticosd). 
Chickweed  (Alsine  media). 
Amaranth      (Amaranthus      relro- 

jlexits) . 
Trumpet    creeper    (Tecoma  radi- 

cans). 

Yellow  sorrel  (Oxalis  slricla). 
Rib-grass    (Planlago   lanceolata). 
Spurge  (Euphorbia  maculala). 
Lamb's     quarters     (Ghenopodium 

album) . 

Purslane  (Portulaca  oleracea). 
Jewel  weed  (Impatiens) . 


282  USEFUL  BIRDS. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

BIRDS  OF  FIELD  AND  GARDEN. 
THRUSHES   AND   THEIR   ALLIES. 

The  food  of  Thrushes  is  alluded  to  on  p.  155,  and  the 
woodland  Thrushes  are  described  on  the  pages  following  it. 

American  Robin. 

Merula  migratoria. 
Length.  — Nine  to  ten  inches. 
Adult  Male.  —  Above,  dark  gray,  olive  tinged,  browner  on  wings;  head  and  tail 

blackish,  with  white  marks ;  breast  ruddy,  varying  to  bay ;  chin  and  lower 

tail  coverts  white ;  throat  white,  with  black  spots. 
Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  but  duller;  head  and  breast  paler. 
Young.  —  Breast  spotted  with  blackish. 
Nest.  —  Of  grass  and  mud,  on  tree,  wall,  building,  or  bank. 
Eggs.  —  Greenish-blue ;  rarely  spotted. 
Season. — Resident,  but  rarest  in  late  December  and  early  January. 

This  large  Thrush  was  named  the  Robin  by  the  early 
settlers  of  Massachusetts,  because  it  resembled  somewhat  in 
color  the  little  Red-breasted  Robin  of  England.  Ornithol- 
ogists since  then  have  called  it 
the  Migratory  Thrush  and  the  Red- 
breasted  Thrush,  but  in  vain  ;  thus 
custom  perpetuates  error. 

The   American    Robin,   as    it   is 
now  called,  is  the  most  generally 
common  bird  in  Massachusetts.    Its 
Fig.  125.  —  American  Robin,     habit  of  foraging  on  the  ground  in 

about  one-half  natural  size.  gardens  and  fields>  itg   fondness  for 

fruit,  its  custom  of  seeking  the  vicinity  of  human  dwellings, 
lawns,  gardens,  and  cultivated  fields,  all  have  resulted  in  its 
increasing  in  numbers.  As  the  forests  were  cleared  away, 
the  planting  of  fruit  trees  furnished  it  food  and  nesting 
places  ;  and  so  the  Robin  became  part  and  parcel  of  our  rural 
civilization.  It  nests  by  preference  in  an  apple  tree  near 
farm  buildings,  but  almost  any  nesting  site  will  do,  from  a 


>'$Wj  Av^^^^^r 


PLATE   XXV.  —  Robin's  Nest  in  Hollow  Tree. 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  283 

pine  tree  in  the  woods  to  a  wall  overgrown  with  ivy,  an  over- 
hanging sand  bank,  or  a  shelf  over  a  cottage  door.  The  nest 
is  usually  strengthened  with  mud,  but  not  always.  Last  sum- 
mer I  found  in  a  sand  bank  a  nest  that  had  no  mud  in  its  com- 
position. It  needed  none,  for  it  was  sunk  in  the  sand  and 
sheltered  overhead  by  the  overhanging  turf.  Apparently  the 
birds  were  wise  enough  to  see  that  in  this  case  the  mud  was 
unnecessary.  The  Robin  sometimes  utilizes  a  hollow  trunk 
for  its  nesting  place,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  accompanying 
cut,  made  from  a  photograph  furnished  by  Mr.  J.  A.  Farley. 

The  Robin  prefers  to  have  a  roof  over  its  nest ;  therefore 
it  usually  places  the  nest  in  such  a  situation  that  the  growing 
leaves  will  shade  it  from  the  sun  and  shelter  it  from  the  rain  ; 
but  it  often  takes  refuge  under  some  roof  built  by  human 
hands.  Last  summer  I  saw  a  Robin's  nest  built  under  the 
projecting  roof  of  a  small,  open  railway  station.  There  the 
birds  reared  young,  undisturbed  by  passengers  or  trains. 

The  economic  position  of  the  Robin  has  been  discussed 
almost  as  freely  as  that  of  the  English  Sparrow  or  the  Crow. 
Many  fruit  growers  have  long  looked  upon  the  Robin  as  an 
inveterate  enemy,  and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  this  bird  is 
sometimes  a  serious  pest  to  the  grower  of  small  fruits.  It 
is  often  asserted  that  the  Robin  and  Catbird  select  the  very 
choicest  fruits.  Professor  Beal,  however,  believes  that  this 
is  an  error,  and  that  the  birds  rather  prefer  wild  fruit  that  is 
insipid  or  disagreeable  to  man. 

My  experience  with  birds  in  the  strawberry  bed  con- 
vinced me,  nevertheless,  that  Robin  and  Catbird  picked  out 
the  reddest,  ripest,  and  sweetest  varieties  in  preference  to  all 
others.  To  test  this  preference,  I  set  out  here  and  there  a 
plant  of  one  of  these  varieties  among  the  beds  of  more  com- 
mon fruit.  In  every  case  the  birds  found  these  plants  and 
took  about  all  the  fruit.  But  I  am  led  to  believe,  from  what 
is  known  of  their  habits,  that  they  selected  this  fruit  by  its 
color  rather  than  by  its  taste  or  quality.  When  the  early 
cherries  are  ripening,  the  birds  attack  the  first  point  where  a 
cherry  turns  red.  The  choice  early  fruit  is  taken  because 
there  is  no  ripe  wild  fruit,  and  at  this  season  the  birds  have 
had  no  juicy  berries  for  months,  and  are  "fruit  hungry." 


284  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


The  destruction  of  small  fruits  by  Kobins  usually  bears 
hardest  on  small  growers,  or  on  families  who  raise  only  a 
little  fruit  for  their  own  use.  Large  strawberry  growers  have 
told  me  that  the  birds  do  them  no  noticeable  harm,  nor  have 
I  known  of  any  very  serious  and  widespread  destruction  of 
cultivated  fruit  by  Robins  in  this  State.  Much  harm  is  said 
to  have  been  done  by  them  in  other  States,  however,  notably 
in  New  Jersey  and  California. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Robin  is  sometimes  in- 
jurious to  the  interests  of  the  small-fruit  grower,  it  is  one 
of  the  most  useful  of  all  birds  to  the  farmer  and  orchardist, 
being  probably  as  indispensable  to  the  farm  as  any  bird  that 
could  be  named.  The  problem  that  must  be  solved  by  the 
fruit  grower  is  how  to  prevent  the  Robin  from  destroying 
small  fruits,  for  the  farmer  and  orchardist  are  interested  in 
seeing  the  numbers  of  this  bird  increased  rather  than  dimin- 
ished. The  value  of  the  bird  to  the  farmer  consists  in  the 
following  facts.  It  remains  in  Massachusetts  a  large  part 
of  the  year,  and  during  the  spring  and  early  summer  it  lives 
almost  entirely  on  insects  and  worms,  while  insects  form  a 
considerable  portion  of  its  food  for  the  rest  of  the  season.  It 
forages  on  fields,  lawns,  and  cultivated  grounds  for  many  of 
the  insects  that  the  farmer  finds  most  difficult  to  control.  It 
also  destroys  many  caterpillars,  including  hairy  species,  of 
orchard,  woodland,  and  shade  trees. 

Professors  Jenks  in  Massachusetts,  King  in  Wisconsin, 
Forbes  in  Illinois,  and  Beal  at  Washington,  and  Mr.  Wilcox 
in  Ohio,  have  each  studied  the  food  of  this  bird.  All  these 
gentlemen  regard  the  Robin  as  beneficial  except  Mr.  Wilcox, 
who,  while  giving  it  due  credit  for  a  certain  amount  of  the 
good  that  it  does,  believes  that  the  small-fruit  grower  should 
be  allowed  to  protect  his  crops  by  killing  Robins  where  it 
seems  necessary.  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  a  large 
proportion  of  the  Robins  that  Mr.  Wilcox  examined  were 
shot  about  the  fruit  garden  on  the  experiment  station 
grounds  when  the  fruit  was  ripe;  and  their  food  for  the 
time  being  would  not  fairly  represent  the  average  aliment 
of  the  Robin,  any  more  than  would  the  food  of  the  Robins 
shot  about  Mr.  Trouvelot's  insectary  correctly  represent  the 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  285 

ordinary  food  of  the  bird  in  that  region.  In  the  one  case 
much  fruit  and  few  insects  were  found  in  the  birds'  stom- 
achs ;  in  the  other  case  the  birds'  stomachs  were  filled  with 
the  caterpillars  of  the  American  silkworm  which  Mr.  Trou- 
velot  was  breeding,  and  contained  no  fruit,  although  wild 
berries  were  plentiful  all  about.  The  Robin  might  be  a  pest 
in  Ohio  and  a  blessing  in  Massachusetts.  It  is  a  great  fruit 
eater,  but  it  takes  none  of  man's  products  except  fruit,  and 
in  Massachusetts  small  fruits  alone  suffer  materially  from  its 
attacks. 

Professor  Beal,  who  probably  has  examined  more  stomachs 
of  Robins  from  different  regions  than  any  other  investigator, 
states  that  vegetable  food  formed  nearly  fifty-eight  per  cent, 
of  the  contents  of  three  hundred  and  thirty  stomachs  ;  forty- 
seven  per  cent,  of  the  vegetable  matter  consisted  of  wild 
fruits,  and  only  a  little  more  than  four  per  cent,  of  varieties 
that  were  possibly  cultivated.  This  seems  to  sustain  the 
contention  that,  where  wild  fruit  is  plentiful,  as  it  is  in  many 
parts  of  the  country,  it  is  preferred  by  the  Robin  to  culti- 
vated fruit.  The  greatest  quantity  of  cultivated  fruit  is 
eaten  in  late  June  and  in  early  July,  when  early  cherries 
and  strawberries  ripen,  and  before  there  is  much  ripe  wild 
fruit.  Thus  in  Illinois  Professor  Forbes  found  that  in  June 
fifty-five  per  cent,  of  the  food  of  the  Robin  consisted  of 
cherries  and  raspberries,  and  fourteen  birds  that  he  exam- 
ined, killed  in  July,  had  revelled  in  the  fruit  garden.  Rasp- 
berries, blackberries,  and  currants  formed  seventy-nine  per 
cent,  of  their  food.  Cherries  made  forty -four  parts  of  the 
food  eaten  in  August  by  fourteen  birds,  but  two-thirds  of 
these  cherries  were  wild. 

Where  early  wild  fruits  are  plentiful  the  Robins  do  far 
less  injury  to  cultivated  fruits.  A  list  of  the  wild  fruits  eaten 
by  birds  is  given  in  another  chapter.  The  Robin  eats  nearly 
all  of  them  ;  therefore  it  is  unnecessary  here  to  speak  fur- 
ther of  the  vegetable  food  of  this  bird,  except  to  mention 
a  few  of  its  favorite  fruits.  Among  these  are  :  wild  cher- 
ries, wild  grapes  of  several  species,  the  berries  of  the  sour 
gum  or  tupelo,  smilax,  greenbrier,  holly,  all  species  of 
sumac,  poison  ivy,  elder,  huckleberries,  blueberries,  black- 


286  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


berries,  cranberries,  and  Juneberries.  The  methods  of 
protecting  cultivated  fruit  against  the  Kobin  are  given 
elsewhere. 

The  Eobin  is  the  "early  bird  that  catches  the  worm." 
Who  has  not  seen  it  hopping  over  the  field  or  lawn,  with 
head  erect,  looking  and  perhaps  listening  for 
worms  and  grubs  ?  All  know  the  skill  with 
which  it  finds  them  and  drags  them  forth 
to  daylight.  Robins  destroy  numbers  of 
earthworms  every  spring,  and  throughout  the  season  they 
get  as  many  as  they  can  readily  find.  Earthworms  have  been 
considered  useful  creatures  since  Darwin's  studies  showed  us 
how  they  help  to  cultivate  the  soil ;  therefore  at  first  sight 
we  might  regard  the  Robin's  habit  of  eating  them  as  injurious  ; 
but  worms  are  remarkably  prolific,  and  were  they  to  increase 
without  check  they  might  cultivate  the  fields  and  lawns  so 
assiduously  as  to  interfere  with  the  growth  of  plants.  Some 
city  lawns  where  birds  are  not  plentiful  have  been  rendered 
brown  and  unsightly  by  the  numerous  heaps  of  castings 
thrown  up  by  the  too  plentiful  worms.  We  may  safely  set 
down  the  earthworm  habit  of  the  Robin  to  its  credit,  so  long 
as  it  merely  assists  in  destroying  the  surplus  crawlers.  Earth- 
worms, however,  form  only  a  small  part  of  the  Robin's  food 
for  the  year.  Worms  are  not  found  much  at  the  surface  in 
early  spring,  and  during  the  dry  weather  of  summer  they  are 
too  far  down  for  the  Robin  to  find  them  ;  nevertheless,  he 
is  seen  apparently  "  hunting  worms  "  in  the  meadows  and 
fields  at  any  time  from  March  to  July,  and  in  fact  all  through 
the  season.  If  the  ground  is  bare  in  January  or  February, 
Robins  may  be  found  now  and  then  searching  the  fields  for 
insects  ;  if  January  and  February  are  snowy,  they  begin  the 
search  in  March  or  early  April.  They  find  dormant  cut- 
worms and  other  caterpillars  in  some  numbers  even  in  Feb- 
ruary. A  very  large  per  cent,  of  their  food  in  February  and 
March  consists  of  the  larvae  of  March  flies  (Bibio  albipennis). 
Every  investigator  who  has  studied  the  food  of  Robins  has 
found  quantities  of  these  insects  in  their  stomachs.  These 
larvae  live  in  colonies,  and  feed  mainly  on  decaying  vegetable 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  287 

matter.  They  are  usually  harmless,  but  sometimes  eat  living 
roots,  and  are  believed  to  be  capable  of  doing  serious  injury 
to  grass  lands.  The  fact  that  Robins  feed  almost  constantly 
on  March  fly  larvae,  thus  keeping  them  under  control,  may 
account  for  the  little  injury  that  these  insects  ordinarily  do. 
Professor  Forbes  took  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  from  the 
stomach  of  a  single  bird.  Our  bird  is  very  destructive  to 
caterpillars,  especially  the  species  that  live  on  or  near  the 
ground. 

The  cutworm  is  the  early  worm  that  the  Robin  gets.  These 
cutworms  (the  larvae  of  Xoctuid  moths)  are  dull-colored,  hair- 
less caterpillars,  that  are  most  often  seen  on  the  ground. 
They  usually  hide  during  the  day  about  the  roots  of  plants, 
under  matted  grass,  or  under  the  loose  soil  along  rows  of 
plants  in  the  garden.  They  come  out  of  their  hiding  places 
at  dusk,  and  feed.  Their  destructiveness  consists  in  their 
manner  of  feeding.  They  often  eat  away  the  stems  of  young 
plants  near  the  ground,  thus  destroying  many  plants  for  the 
sake  of  a  few  mouthfuls  of  food.  Young  cabbages,  tomatoes, 
beans,  etc.,  fall  victims  to  these  pests.  Where  cutworms  are 
numerous,  nothing  can  be  successfully  grown  until  they  are 
killed  off.  Probably  the  various  species  are  individually  and 
collectively  the  most  destructive  of  all  caterpillars. 

The  Robin  is  abroad  at  the  first  break  of  day  and  until  the 
dusk  of  evening.  He  finds  the  cutworms  in  the  morning 
before  they  have  crawled  into  their  holes,  and  at  night  when 
they  first  venture  out ;  and  he  digs  them  out  of  the  earth  at 
all  hours  of  the  day.  Perhaps  no  other  bird  is  so  destructive 
to  these  caterpillars  in  gardens.  Professor  Forbes  found  that 
cutworms  and  other  caterpillars  formed  thirty-seven  per  cent, 
of  the  food  of  nine  Robins  taken  in  March.  Wilson  Flagg 
watched  the  Robins  about  his  house  during  a  drought  in  July, 
when  earthworms  were  not  to  be  had.  He  asserted  that  the 
female  bird  carried  off  a  cutworm  as  often  as  once  in  five 
minutes,  and  that  he  saw  her  take  two  and  even  three  at  a 
time.  Professor  Forbes  found  that  nine  May  Robins  had 
eaten  cutworms  to  the  extent  of  twenty  per  cent,  of  their 
food.  These  birds  were  taken  in  an  orchard  where  canker- 


288  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


worms  and  other  insects  were  plentiful.  This  shows  what 
an  extraordinary  number  of  cutworms  Robins  will  eat,  even 
when  other  insect  food  may  easily  be  had. 

They  are  not  at  all  particular  regarding  the  kind  of  cater- 
pillars they  secure,  but  feed  eagerly  on  most  common  species  ; 
even  the  woolly  bear  (Isia  isabella)  falls  a  victim.     Wher- 
ever the  gipsy  moth,  the  brown-tail  moth,  or 
the  forest  tent  moth  swarm,  the  Robin  eats 
their  caterpillars.     All  the  span  worms  seem 
to  be  favorite  morsels.    The  Robin  takes  can- 
ker worms,  tent  caterpillars,  curculios,  leaf- 
eating  and  wood-boring  beetles,  and  ground 
beetles.     Many  wireworms  are    taken,    but 
^ne  R°bm  renders  no  greater  service  on  the 
Robins.  farm  than  the  destruction  of  the  white  grubs 

of  May  beetles  and  so-called  "  June  bugs "  of  the  genus 
Lachnosterna.  These  white  grubs,  if  unchecked,  destroy 
the  roots  of  grasses  to  such  an  extent  that  they  ruin  the 
sod  of  meadows  and  fields,  killing  all  the  grass.  In  such 
cases  the  top  of  the  dead  turf  may  be  peeled  off,  a  mere 
worthless  mass  of  dead,  straw-like  vegetation.  The  grubs 
cut  off  strawberry  plants  just  below  the  ground,  killing  the 
plants  and  sometimes  ruining  whole  beds.  Corn  and  other 
grains  are  destroyed.  Potatoes,  turnips,  carrots,  and  root 
crops  of  all  kinds  are  eaten  and  ruined.  Where  the  grubs 
are  plentiful,  hardly  a  plant  is  safe  from  their  ravages. 
By  reason  of  their  subterranean  habits,  they  are  so  difficult 
of  control  that  were  they  not  checked  by  their  natural  ene- 
mies it  might  be  impossible  for  the  farmer  to  raise  hay,  grain, 
or  vegetables.  Careful  observation  during  three  years  on  a 
farm  convinced  me  that  the  Robin  ranks  first  among  the 
natural  enemies  of  the  white  grub.  In  1901  my  garden  was 
seriously  infested  with  white  grubs  ;  there  was  some  fear  that 
it  would  be  difficult  to  raise  either  strawberries  or  roots  ;  but 
it  was  soon  seen  that  something  was  digging  funnel-shaped 
holes  along  the  rows,  and  taking  out  the  grubs.  A  close 
watch  was  kept,  to  discover  the  author  of  this  good  work, 
and  it  was  invariably  found  to  be  the  Robin.  The  birds 
seemed  to  locate  the  grubs  either  by  sight  or  hearing,  and 


PLATE  XXVI.  — Robin  on  Nest.  (Photograph  from  life.)  (Copy- 
right by  C.  A.  Reed.)  (From  the  annual  report  of  the  Massachu- 
setts State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1902.) 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  289 

dug  down  to  them.  The  hole  was  often  two  to  three  inches 
deep,  and  they  found  the  grubs  unerringly.  They  might 
not  have  been  able  to  do  this  had  the  surface  not  been  kept 
well  fined  and  mellow. 

The  Robin  revels  in  a  well-cultivated  garden.  If  he  is  not 
molested,  he  will  follow  behind  plow,  hoe,  or  cultivator,  and 
pick  up  the  grubs  that  are  turned  up,  before  they  are  able  to 
bury  themselves  in  the  soil.  The  Robins  about  our  place 
soon  learned  to  pick  up  grubs  and  worms  that  were  thrown 
to  them.  The  number  that  they  find  in  a  season  is  beyond 
computation.  They  were  so  diligent  in  our  gardens  and 
fields  that  the  white  grubs  did  no  material  injury.  One 
mother  bird  that  was  following  me  one  morning  picked  up 
three  large  grubs,  one  after  another.  She  laid  the  first  two 
down  on  hard  ground,  secured  the  third,  and  then  after  two 
or  three  futile  attempts  gathered  them  all  in  her  beak  and 
flew  away  to  her  nest  near  by,  where  she  fed  them  to  her 
eager  young.  The  whole  proceeding  did  not  occupy  over 
five  minutes. 

Wherever  these  grubs  appear  in  such  numbers  as  to  de- 
stroy the  turf  on  lawns,  the  Robin  is  always  the  most  effi- 
cient agency  for  their  destruction.  Robins  flock  to  such 
places,  and  find  more  grubs  than  does  any  other  bird.  In 
meadows  remote  from  houses  Crows  may  be  equally  efficient, 
but  usually  they  are  too  shy  to  approach  very  near  occupied 
dwellings.  The  efficiency  of  the  Robin  lies  in  its  skill  in 
finding  and  digging  out  the  grubs  (an  accomplishment  in 
which  it  appears  to  excel  all  other  birds),  and  in  its  num- 
bers ;  for,  except  in  villages  and  cities,  where  Sparrows  are 
more  numerous,  Robins  are  the  most  abundant  birds.  As 
the  season  advances,  Robins  are  often  very  destructive  to 
grasshoppers  ;  all  orders  of  insects  suffer  from  their  attacks. 
Even  in  June  and  July,  when  the  Robin  eats  cultivated  fruit, 
insects  comprise  over  forty  per  cent,  of  its  food. 

The  character  of  the  food  of  nestling  Robins  is  very  im- 
portant, for  the  Robin  normally  rears  two  or  three  broods 
each  year.  Weed  and  Dearborn  found  that  the  largest 
single  element  consumed  by  the  young  consisted  of  cut- 
worms and  related  caterpillars,  which  formed  twenty-seven 


290  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


per  cent,  of  their  food.  In  my  experience,  caterpillars  and 
grubs  form  a  very  large  percentage  of  their  food,  particu- 
larly cutworms.  A  goodly  number  of  earthworms  are  fed 
in  spring,  when  they  are  to  be  had  in  abundance  ;  but  cut- 
worms seem  to  be  a  favorite  food  at  all  times.  Beetles 
(including  curculios,  snap  beetles,  and  wireworms),  grass- 
hoppers, crickets,  Noctuid  moths,  spiders,  snails,  katydids, 
grass  blades  (probably  picked  up  with  insects) ,  and  a  few 
seeds,  are  all  found  in  the  stomachs  of  the  young. 

Mrs.  Irene  G.  Wheelock  watched  the  nest  of  a  pair  of 
Robins,  and  in  three  hours  sixty-one  earthworms,  sixteen 
yellow  grubs,  thirty-eight  other  insects,  four  grasshoppers, 
and  a  few  dragon  flies  and  moths  were  carried  to  the  nest- 
lings. The  last  few  days  that  they  were  in  the  nest,  food 
was  brought  to  them  every  three  minutes. 

The  earliest  broods  reared  get  practically  no  fruit,  but  the 
late  broods  are  fed  some  fruit  while  in  the  nest,  and  after  they 
leave  the  nest  they  live  more  largely  on  fruit  than  do  the  par- 
ent birds,  probably  because  it  is  easier  to  find  than  insects, 
which  the  young  birds  are  at  first  not  skillful  in  capturing. 

The  Robin  thrives  wherever  there  are  gardens  and  orchards. 
In  the  prairie  States,  where  there  is  little  native  fruit,  it  has 
become  very  destructive  to  cultivated  small  fruits,  and  even 
to  apples  ;  but  in  Massachusetts,  where  wild  fruit  is  plenti- 
ful, its  principal  depredations  may  be  mostly  obviated  by 
planting  early  mulberries  or  shadberries.  The  Robin  de- 
serves the  protection  it  now  receives  from  the  law. 

Bluebird. 

Sialia  sialis. 

Length.  —  Six  and  one-half  to  seven  inches. 
Adult  Male.  —  Above,  bright  azure  blue ;  breast  and  under  parts  bright  chestnut, 

except  the  belly,  which  is  white,  or  bluish-white. 
Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  but  much  duller  or  paler. 
Young.  —  Mostly  brown,  with  blue  on  wings  and  tail;   breast  speckled  with 

brownish  and  white. 

Nest.  —  In  a  hole  in  a  tree,  post,  or  in  a  bird  house. 
Eggs.  —  Pale  blue,  rarely  white. 
Season.  —  March  to  November ;  seen  rarely  in  winter  months. 

The  Bluebird  is  perhaps  first  of  all  birds  in  the  affections 
of  the  rural  population  of  New  England.  Its  gentle  note,  at 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  291 

first  a  mere  wandering  voice  in  the  skies,  comes  down  to  us 
a  sure  augury  of  returning  spring.  The  Robin,  Song  Spar- 
row, and  Blackbird  renew  the  vernal  prophecy ;  but  when 
the  Bluebird  warbles  gently  from  the  leafless  trees,  and  flits 
from  fence  to  house  top,  we  feel  that 
the  very  spirit  of  the  spring  has  come. 
The  Bluebird  is  usually  common, 
locally  at  least,  in  Massachusetts  by 
the  middle  of  March,  and  flights  may 
be  seen  going  south  in  September  and 
October.  The  bird  is  seldom  seen 
later  than  November;  but  it  is  quite 
possible  that  occasionally  a  few  winter  Fig.  127.— Bluebird,  about 

, ,  -\r  i  j_i  one-half  natural  size. 

in  southeastern  .Massachusetts,  as  they 

have  been  reported  there  in  December  and  January,  and  a 
few  are  said  to  winter  in  the  same  latitude  in  Connecticut. 
"Wherever  dense  red  cedar  and  sumac  thickets  are  numerous 
and  fruitful,  there  is  food  enough  to  carry  through  the  winter 
such  Bluebirds  as  may  venture  to  stay.  It  is  quite  probable 
that  some  of  the  early  birds  which  come  from  the  south  in 
February  are  starved  and  frozen  during  the  extreme  cold 
weather  and  snowstorms  which  sometimes  follow  their  ap- 
pearance ;  most  of  them,  however,  contrive  to  exist  until 
warm  weather  appears. 

This  bird  often  rears  two  or  three  broods.  The  male  bird 
takes  care  of  the  young  after  they  have  learned  to  fly,  while 
the  female  prepares  a  nest  for  the  next  brood. 

The  Bluebird  needs  no  defence  ;  it  has  long  been  regarded 
as  a  harmless  species,  for  it  takes  practically  none  of  man's 
products,  and  boards  itself.  Nevertheless,  it  is  probably  not 
as  useful  as  the  Robin,  — a  bird  which  has  been  widely  reviled 
as  a  pest.  However,  the  utility  of  the  Bluebird  must  be  ac- 
knowledged, although  it  perhaps  eats  more  beneficial  insects 
in  proportion  to  the  harmful  ones  than  does  the  Robin.  The 
Bluebird  comes  close  to  the  Robin  as  a  cutworm  destroyer, 
and  at  times  it  is  an  efficient  caterpillar  hunter.  It  is  valu- 
able in  the  orchard  in  repressing  outbreaks  of  cankerworms. 
As  it  eats  the  furry  caterpillars  of  Arctians  and  other  hairy 
species,  it  is  of  especial  value  in  Massachusetts.  It  is  a 


292  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


persistent  foe  of  the  Orthoptera.  Grasshoppers  constitute 
nearly  twenty-two  per  cent,  of  its  food  for  the  year,  and  in 
August  and  September  more  than  sixty  per  cent.  Alto- 
gether, seventy-six  per  cent,  of  its  food  for  the  season  con- 
sists of  insects  or  allied  forms,  and  the  other  twenty-four 
per  cent,  is  made  up  of  wild  fruit 
and  other  vegetable  substances,  taken 
mainly  in  winter.  In  selecting  its 
food,  the  Bluebird,  like  the  Robin,  is 
governed  as  much  by  abundance  as 
by  choice.  The  vegetable  food  of  the 
Fig.  128.— The  Bluebird's  Bluebird  proves  its  harmlessness  to 
crops.  It  consists  almost  entirely  of 

wild  berries  ;  a  few  blackberries  are  eaten,  and  a  little  grass 
and  asparagus.  Undoubtedly  the  Bluebird  well  deserves 
the  welcome  annually  accorded  it. 

WRENS. 

Five  species  of  Wren  are  found  in  Massachusetts,  but  only 
one,  the  House  Wren,  was  ever  of  much  economic  impor- 
tance in  garden  or  field. 

The  Winter  Wren  is  ordinarily  seen  in  woodlands  and 
thickets.  It  comes  here  chiefly  in  migration,  and  is  not 
common  enough  to  be  of  much  service  to  man. 

The  Carolina  Wren  is  rare,  and  the  two  Marsh  Wrens  are 
seldom  if  ever  seen  except  in  wet  lowlands. 

House  Wren. 

Troglodytes  aedon. 

Length.  —  About  five  inches. 

Adult.  —  Upper  parts  brown;  lower  parts  grayish-brown,  sometimes  grayish- 
white  ;  wings,  tail,  and  flanks  faintly  barred  with  blackish ;  tail  often  held 
erect. 

Nest.  —  Composed  of  sticks  and  rootlets,  in  a  hollow  tree  or  any  accessible  cavity. 

Eggs.  —  Six  to  eight ;  white,  thickly  speckled  with  reddish-brown. 

A  once  common  and  familiar  species,  but  now  no  longer  a 
regular  summer  resident  in  the  greater  part  of  Massachusetts, 
the  Wren  is  apparently  doomed  to  give  way  before  the  ad- 
vance of  the  House  (or  "English")  Sparrow.  Attention  is 
called,  however,  to  the  desirable  qualities  of  the  Wren,  in 


PLATE   XXVII.  — Wren  at  Nest  Hole.     (Photograph,  from 
life,  by  C.  A.  Heed.)     (From  American  Ornithology.) 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  293 

the  hope  that  wherever  it  still  remains  people  may  be  induced 
to  provide  tenements  for  it  and  protect  it  from  the  Sparrow, 
and  so  assist  it  to  increase  in  numbers. 

This  sprightly  little  bird  seeks  the  homes  of  man  partly 
because  of  the  nesting  places  afforded  by  the  hollow  trees 
of  the  orchard,  and  partly  because  of  the  number  of  insects 
it  finds  about  house,  barn,  orchard,  and  garden.  Its  pert 
appearance,  as  it  dashes  about  with  short,  upraised  tail ; 
its  bubbling,  ecstatic  song ;  its  sharp,  scolding  notes,  as  it 
creeps  about  the  wood  pile  or  berates  the  family  cat,  — 
were  once  familiar  sights  and  sounds,  not  only  about  the 
farmhouse,  but  even  in  city  yards  and  gardens,  for,  until  the 
Sparrow  came,  the  Wren  was  in  many  localities  a  common 
village  and  city  bird.  A  valiant  little  warrior,  it  is  well 
able  to  protect  its  young  against  the  intrusion  of  other  small 
native  birds,  and  has  even  been  known  to  defend  its  home 
successfully  against  the  dreaded  cat ;  but  it  has  given  ground 
before  the  Sparrow  mob,  and  is  now  rarely  seen  in  the 
cities.  The  few  individuals  now  left  nest  mainly  in  remote 
orchards. 

Its  alarm  note  is  a  sharp  chirp,  but  its  song  is  an  inde- 
scribable burst  of  melody.  It  bubbles  forth  as  if  the  bird 
were  too  full  of  joyous  music  to  express  it  properly,  for  the 
sweet  and  pent-up  notes  seem  to  crowd  each  other  in  the 
attempt  to  escape  from  longer  confinement.  In  this  respect 
the  music  is  much  like  that  of  the  Bobolink,  but  it  is  entirely 
different  in  quality.  In  spring  the  males  sing  a  large  part 
of  the  time. 

The  Wren  is  one  of  the  most  active  of  birds,  and  when  its 
large  and  growing  family  is  in  the  nest  it  is  almost  continu- 
ally occupied  in  searching  the  shrubbery,  orchard,  wood  pile, 
fence,  or  wall,  as  well  as  the  vegetables  in  the  garden,  for 
insects.  Nest  building  gives  scope  to  its  feverish  industry, 
and  a  single  pair  will  sometimes  build  two  or  three  nests  at 
almost  the  same  time,  if  they  can  find  convenient  receptacles 
for  them. 

It  is  almost  entirely  beneficial  in  its  food  habits.  Pro- 
fessor Beal  finds  that  ninety-eight  per  cent,  of  its  sustenance 
consists  of  animal  matter,  composed  of  insects  and  their  allies, 


294  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


and  two  per  cent,  of  vegetable  matter,  which  is  made  up  of 
bits  of  plants  taken  accidentally  with  the  insects.  Half  of 
the  animal  food  is  grasshoppers  and  beetles ;  the  remainder 
mostly  caterpillars,  bugs,  and  spiders. 

The  Wren  does  not  range  far  from  its  nest,  and  when  that 
is  near  the  garden  it  gets  a  large  part  of  its  food  there.  In 
Medford  we  succeeded  in  getting  two  families  of  Wrens  to 
nest  in  boxes,  one  on  the  house,  the  other  in  an  apple  tree. 
The  entrances  to  these  boxes  were  round  holes  a  little  less 
than  an  inch  in  diameter.  The  Sparrows  could  not  get  in, 
and  so  the  Wrens  were  unmolested. 

The  only  injurious  habit  of  the  Wrens  seems  to  be  their 
mischievous  conduct  in  breaking  and  even  eating  the  eggs 
in  the  nests  of  other  birds.  This  habit  seems  to  be  common 
to  individuals  of  this  and  other  species  of  Wren,  but  it  has 
been  recorded  so  seldom  in  Massachusetts  that  no  one  need 
hesitate  to  put  up  boxes  for  them.  Unless  something  can 
be  done  to  provide  for  their  increase,  they  are  likely  to 
disappear  from  the  State. 

SPARROWS. 

Some  members  of  this  group,  particularly  the  Finches  and 
Grosbeaks,  have  been  included  in  previous  pages,  among  the 
birds  of  orchard  and  woodland  (see  p.  215)  ;  the  remaining 
common  species  are  mainly  birds  of  the  field  that  nest  on 
or  near  the  ground,  and  get  most  of  their  food  in  fields, 
gardens,  or  pastures. 

Although  they  are  all  seed-eating  birds,  they  live  largely 
on  insects  during  spring  and  early  summer,  and  their  young 
are  fed  mainly  on  such  food.  In  fall  and  winter  Sparrows  feed 
on  the  seeds  of  grains,  grasses,  and  weeds,  although  they 
are  not  then  averse  to  insect  food  when  they  can  find  it. 

Dr.  Judd,  in  his  important  paper,  "  The  Relation  of  Spar- 
rows to  Agriculture,"  states  that  the  value  of  these  birds  to 
the  agriculturist  is  greater  "than  that  of  any  other  group 
whose  economic  status  has  thus  far  been  investigated."  He 
says,  nevertheless,  that  the  native  Sparrows  contrast  markedly 
in  this  respect  with  the  introduced  "English"  Sparrow,  which 
is  a  pest.  The  great  bulk  of  the  food  of  Sparrows  consists 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  295 

of  seed,  fruit,  and  insects.  The  native  Sparrows  destroy 
very  little  grain,  great  quantities  of  weed  seeds  and  insects, 
and  hardly  any  cultivated  fruit ;  they  are,  therefore,  almost 
entirely  harmless.  They  frequent  grass  fields,  cultivated 
fields,  and  gardens,  and  in  some  cases  orchards  ;  thus  their 
good  work  is  done  where  it  is  of  great  benefit  to  the  farmer. 

Dr.  Judd  tells  us  that  the  food  of  Sparrows  consists  of 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  per  cent,  animal  matter,  and 
from  sixty-five  to  seventy -five  per  cent,  vegetable  matter ; 
this  is  exclusive  of  the  mineral  matter,  which  is  mostly 
swallowed  as  an  aid  to  digestion.  Beneficial  insects  sel- 
dom amount  to  more  than  two  per  cent,  of  the  food ;  this 
is  a  very  low  average.  The  Flycatchers  and  Swallows  take  a 
very  much  larger  per  cent,  of  useful  insects.  Sparrows  may 
do  some  slight  harm  in  distributing  the  seeds  of  weeds  ;  but, 
as  their  stomachs  grind  the  food  most  thoroughly,  it  is  proba- 
ble that  very  few  seeds  pass  through  the  alimentary  canal  in 
a  condition  to  germinate. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  account  we  find  that  insect  pests 
make  up  from  ten  to  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  year's  food ; 
these  are  mainly  grasshoppers  and  cutworms,  army  worms 
and  their  allies,  and  beetles,  such  as  click  beetles  and  weevils. 
Bugs  are  eaten  in  small  quantities.  While  nearly  all  the 
native  Sparrows  eat  Geometrid  caterpillars,  like  the  canker- 
worms,  only  a  few  have  been  known  to  eat  the  hairy  species. 
Such  weevils  as  injure  clover  and  strawberries  are  destroyed 
in  large  numbers ;  also  some  flea  beetles  and  leaf-eating 
beetles  are  eaten. 

The  young  of  Sparrows  are  almost  entirely  insectivorous 
until  they  leave  the  nest ;  and,  as  many  of  these  birds  usually 
rear  at  least  two  broods  in  a  season,  they  do  great  good  in 
the  gardens  and  fields  while  rearing  their  young. 

When  the  good  work  of  destroying  insect  pests  is  practi- 
cally over  for  the  season,  the  Sparrows  turn  at  once  to  the 
ripening  seeds  of  weeds.  The  number  of  such  seeds  that  a 
single  bird  will  eat  in  a  day  has  never  been  ascertained ;  but 
a  Tree  Sparrow  was  found  to  have  in  its  stomach  seven  hun- 
dred seeds  of  pigeon  grass,  and  a  Snowflake  had  taken  at 
one  meal  a  thousand  seeds  of  pigweed.  The  Japanese  mil- 


296  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


let  (Panicuin  crus-gatti),  a  wild  barnyard  grass  or  weed 
improved  by  cultivation,  is  much  sought  by  birds.  The 
seed  is  larger  than  that  of  most  weeds,  and  yet  a  single 
Sparrow  will  eat  a  large  number  in  a  day.  During  the  hard 
winter  of  1903-04  about  thirty  Sparrows  came  to  our  window 
to  feed  on  this  seed,  which  was  there  supplied  to  them.  Sev- 
eral hours  of  each  morning  and  afternoon  were  thus  spent. 
As  they  were  constantly  moving  and  changing  positions,  it 
was  difficult  to  follow  any  one  bird  more  than  a  few  minutes 
at  a  time ;  nevertheless,  some  accurate  figures  were  obtained 
regarding  the  number  of  seeds  eaten  in  a  given  time  by  cer- 
tain birds.  A  Fox  Sparrow  ate  one  hundred  and  three  seeds 
in  two  minutes  and  forty-seven  seconds.  There  were  five 
Juncos  eating  at  about  the  same  rate  all  this  time.  A  Song 
Sparrow  ate  thirty-four  seeds  in  one  minute,  ten  seconds  ; 
a  Junco  ate  twenty-eight  in  forty-eight  seconds ;  another, 
sixty-six  in  one  minute,  eleven  seconds  ;  another,  one  hun- 
dred arid  ten  in  three  minutes,  forty-five  seconds ;  while  a 
Song  Sparrow  ate  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  in  the  same 
length  of  time.  This  Song  Sparrow  had  been  eating  for  about 
half  an  hour  before  the  count  began,  and  continued  for  some 
time  after  it  was  finished.  A  Junco  ate  ninety-three  seeds  in 
two  minutes^,  fifteen  seconds ;  and  another  ate  seventy-nine 
in  two  minutes,  twenty  seconds.  It  is  readily  seen  that 
thirty  seeds  a  minute  was  below  the  average  for  these  birds  ; 
and  if  each  bird  ate  at  that  rate  for  but  a  single  hour  each 
day,  he  would  destroy  eighteen  hundred  seeds  each  day,  or 
twelve  thousand,  six  hundred  a  week.  There  were  many 
days,  when  the  ground  was  covered  with  snow,  that  certain 
birds  spent  several  hours  each  day  eating  seeds  at  my  win- 
dow. This  we  know,  for  there  were  but  two  Fox  Sparrows 
and  two  Song  Sparrows  in  the  neighborhood,  and  all  four 
were  often  at  the  window  at  the  same  time.  Most  of  the 
day  the  birds,  when  not  at  the  window,  were  picking  up  such 
seeds  as  they  could  get  elsewhere  from  the  weeds  about  the 
place  or  from  the  chaff  and  hayseed  provided.  They  ate 
more  than  a  bushel  of  seed  at  the  window,  besides  all  the  weed 
seeds  they  found  elsewhere.  Moreover,  they  ate  hayseed  that 
they  picked  up  in  the  barn  and  sheds,  and  fine  particles  of 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  297 

grain  and  small  seeds  that  they  found  in  the  poultry  yards 
and  sera  telling-sheds.  When  Professor  Beal  states  his  belief 
that  the  Tree  Sparrows  in  the  State  of  Iowa  eat  eight  hundred 
and  seventy-five  tons  of  weed  seeds  in  a  winter,  it  seems,  in 
view  of  our  experience,  a  low  estimate. 

Xot  far  from  the  house  was  a  patch  of  Japanese  millet  about 
ten  rods  long  by  one  wide.  This  was  allowed  to  stand  until 
fully  ripe,  and  then  reaped  and  threshed  out  for  the  seed. 
As  it  stood  a  little  too  long,  much  seed  fell  and  was  left  on 
the  ground  for  the  birds, — probably  two  bushels  or  more. 
During  the  winter  they  cleaned  this  up  so  thoroughly  that 
only  about  a  dozen  stalks  sprang  up  the  next  spring  at  one 
end  of  the  patch. 

When  SpaiTows  flock  normally  about  a  weed  patch,  thev 
gather  up  nearly  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  seed  during  a  winter  ; 
but  when  more  are  attracted  by  extra  food,  they  often  get 
nearly  all  the  seeds,  as  they  did  that  year  about  our  garden. 
Dr.  Judd  examined  a  rectangular  space  of  eighteen  inches 
where  Sparrows  had  been  feeding  in  a  smart  weed  thicket. 
He  found  eleven  hundred  and  thirty  mutilated  seeds,  and 
only  two  whole  ones.  Xo  smartweed  grew  there  the  follow- 
ing year.  Sparrows  were  still  feeding  on  these  and  similar 
seeds  on  May  13,  and  a  diligent  search  showed  only  half  a 
dozen  whole  seeds  in  the  field.  Weed  seeds  form  more  than 
half  the  food  of  mature  Sparrows  for  the  year. 

This  great  group  of  birds  comprises  species  of  such  varied 
habits  that  it  is  represented  everywhere.  Sparrows,  Finches, 
Grosbeaks,  or  Buntings  are  found  not  only  in  the  woods, 
fields,  and  city  streets,  but  in  swamps  and  marshes,  and 
among  the  desert  sand  hills  of  Cape  Cod  and  Ipswich.  They 
range  from  the  mountain  top  to  the  sea  level,  and  from  the 
shores  of  the  sea  to  the  farthest  western  boundary  of  the 
State  ;  even  at  sea  migrating  Sparrows  are  sometimes  seen, 
for  they  not  only  cross  wide  bays  and  estuaries,  but  they 
visit  remote  islands,  and  are  sometimes  blown  out  to  sea. 

In  the  following  pages  some  of  the  more  common  and 
useful  species  will  be  considered.  The  "f  English"  Sparrow 
will  be  treated  among  the  enemies  of  birds. 


298 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Indigo  Bunting.     Indigo  Bird. 

Cyanospiza  cyanea. 

Length.  —  About  five  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Bright,  lustrous  indigo-blue,  deepest  on  head,  and  often  with  a 

greenish  tinge  ;  wings  and  tail  dark  brown,  with  blue  marks  and  tints. 
Adult  Female  and  Young.—  Upper  parts  light  brown,  sometimes  faintly,  but 

never  prominently,  streaked  ;  under  parts  brownish-gray  ;  breast  and  sides 

faintly  streaked. 
Nest.  —  In  low  bush. 
Eggs.  —  White. 
Season.  —  May  to  September. 

This  bright  blue  Bunting  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of 
northern  birds.  The  color  of  the  male  is  so  dark  that  at 
a  distance  it  seems  almost  black.  The 
male  requires  three  years  to  attain  full 
plumage.  It  frequents  bushy  pastures, 
sprout  lands,  and  old  fruit  gardens 
grown  up  to  weeds.  In  late  August 
and  September  it  is  seen  in  sweet-corn 

Pig.   129.  —  Indigo   Bunt-  ,    ,  ~    ,  j 

ing,  male,  about  one-half     patches  Or  COTO  fields. 

natural  size.  j^s  song  is  a  rather  rich  and   pleas- 

ing refrain,  with  a  metallic  ring  or  jingle.  A  few  notes 
seem  to  exhaust  its  vocabulary  and  its  breath  at  the  same 
time,  but  it  is  soon  ready  to  try  again.  Perseverance  is  its 
unfailing  virtue,  for  it  sings,  intermittently,  all  through  the 
long,  hot  summer  day.  Its  alarm  note  is  a  sharp  chip. 

It  feeds  more  on  the  caterpillars  that  infest  trees  and 
bushes  than  do  most  Sparrows,  and  takes  many  such  larvae  to 
its  young.  It  is  fond  of  grasshoppers, 
and  takes  some  insects  from  the  garden. 
It  eats  the  birch  plant  louse  with  avidity. 
A  few  flies,  mosquitoes,  or  gnats  are 
taken  ;  cankerworms  and  other  measur- 
ing worms,  the  larvse  of  several  species  of 
butterflies,  and  the  imagoes  of  nocturnal 
and  Tineid  moths,  with  small  beetles  of  different  species,  con- 
stitute a  portion  of  its  insect  food.  The  larger  part  of  its  food 
consists  of  seeds,  many  of  which  are  those  of  weeds.  During 
its  short  stay  with  us  it  is  one  of  the  few  useful  species  seen 
much  about  the  garden,  and  is  of  some  service  in  the  orchard. 


130  —indigo  Bunt- 
ing>  female- 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  299 


Song  Sparrow.     Ground  Sparrow.     Ground  Bird. 

Melospiza  cinerea  mclodia. 

Length.  — About  six  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult  Male. — Ahove,  hrown;  the  back  streaked  with  a  darker  shade;  top  of 
head  reddish-brown,  mottled  with  blackish  streaks;  a  streak  of  light  gray 
through  center  of  crown  and  one  over  the  eye ;  a  dark  line  through  eye 
and  two  on  the  lower  jaw;  breast  and  sides  whitish,  spotted  with  dark 
brown,  the  spots  usually  massed  in  the  center  of  breast,  where  they  form  a 
large  spot  or  cluster ;  tail  rounded  and  rather  long. 

Nest.  —  Usually  on  ground  or  in  bush,  rarely  in  tree. 

Eggs.  —  Whitish,  endlessly  varied  with  browns. 

Season.  —  Resident,  but  not  common  in  winter. 

Few  birds  are  better  known  than  the  Song  Sparrow,  and 
few  are  better  friends  to  man.  Those  who  do  not  know  the 
bird  will  recognize  it  as  the  sweet  singer  of  March  and 
April,  with  a  large  blotch  in  the  middle 
of  its  spotted  breast.  It  prefers  moist 
land  near  water,  and  may  be  found 
along  the  banks  of  brooks  and  the 
shores  of  ponds  or  rivers.  The  nest 
is  often  sunk  in  the  sloping  bank  of 
some  brook  or  ditch.  According  to 
Thoreau,  its  song,  as  expressed  by  the 
country  people,  runs  thus:  "Maids! 

'      .*     ,  Fig.    131.- Song  Sparrow, 

maids !    maids  I    hang    on    your    tea-      about   two-thirds    natural 

kettle-ettle-ettle."     It    has    a   charac-      size' 

teristic  chenk,  evidently  an  alarm  note,  and  several  other 

notes. 

The  Song  Sparrow  is  at  home  in  rich,  moist  gardens,  and 
feeds  among  crops  like  cabbage  and  celery,  which  are  often 
raised  on  lowlands.  It  is  destructive  to  cabbage  plant  lice 
and  cutworms.  It  eats  some  caterpillars  of  the  gipsy  moth, 
the  brown -tail  moth,  and  several  of  the  hairless  pests  among 
the  Geometrids.  Leaf  hoppers  and  spittle  insects,  grasshop- 
pers, locusts,  crickets,  and  click  beetles  are  among  the  pests 
that  it  destroys.  It  picks  up  a  few  snails  and  aquatic  in- 
sects around  the  water.  Flies  and  their  larvae  are  relished. 
Earthworms  and  spiders  are  frequently  taken.  Only  two 
per  cent,  of  the  food  consists  of  useful  insects  ;  injurious 
species  make  up  eighteen  per  cent.  The  vegetable  food 


300  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


consists  of  small  fruit,  mostly  wild,  four  per  cent,  of  grain, 
mostly  waste,  picked  up  in  the  fields,  while  fifty  per  cent, 
of  the  entire  food  of  the  year  is  composed  of  the  seeds  of 
weeds.  Dr.  Judd  remarks  that  the  chief  value  of  this  bird 
as  a  seed-eater  lies  in  its  habit  of  eating  the  seeds  of  polyg- 
onum ;  these  seeds  are  not  so  much  eaten  by  other  birds. 
But  the  Song  Sparrow  eats  the  seed  of  chickweed,  purslane, 
sorrel,  dandelion,  and  dock,  all  of  which  are  common  in 
Massachusetts  gardens.  More  than  half  the  grass  seed  eaten 
belongs  to  such  troublesome  species  as  crab  grass  and  pigeon 
grass.  Witch  grass  and  barnyard  grass  are  among  the  seeds 
that  are  often  freely  eaten  by  this  useful  bird. 

The  Song  Sparrow  sometimes  learns  to  come  about  the 
door  for  crumbs.  A  pair  built  a  nest  on  the  ground  in  our 
garden  ;  but  a  cat  found  it.  Then  a  nest  was  built  in  a  bush  ; 
this  suffered  a  fate  like  the  first.  Then  the  birds  went  up 
high  among  the  thick  sprouts  on  the  trunk  of  an  elm,  built 
another  nest,  and  reared  their  young  in  safety.  They  were 
wiser  in  their  way  than  men,  who,  in  spite  of  their  superior 
intelligence,  continue  to  build  their  homes  on  the  shores  of 
rivers  which  periodically  overflow  their  banks,  or  on  the 
slopes  of  volcanoes  that  occasionally  burn  or  bury  cities. 

The  Song  Sparrow  is  a  bird  to  cultivate.  Friendly, 
cheery,  musical,  harmless,  gentle,  useful,  —  what  more  can 
be  desired? 

Slate-colored  Junco.     Black  Snowbird. 
Junco  hy emalis- 

Length. — About  six  and  one-fourth  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  In  whiter,  all  upper  parts,  and  lower  parts  from  chin  to  breast, 
dark  slaty-gray ;  lower  breast  and  belly  white ;  two  outer  tail  feathers  and 
part  of  third  white ;  bill  pinkish-white,  blackish  at  tip. 

Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  but  lighter,  and  usually  more  rusty. 

Young.  —  Browner,  and  slightly  streaked ;  throat  and  breast  paler. 

Nest.  —  On  ground. 

Eggs.  —  White,  spotted  with  brown. 

Season. — Resident,  but  most  common  in  spring  and  fall. 

The  Snowbird  does  not  often  breed  in  Massachusetts,  ex- 
cepting on  the  higher  lands  of  the  north-central  and  western 
parts  of  the  State.  Pairs  are  said  to  nest  occasionally  in 
ice  houses,  which  are  certainly  cool,  if  not  suitable  situa- 
tions. It  is  a  bird  of  the  Canadian  fauna,  and  it  winters 
in  Massachusetts  wherever  conditions  are  favorable.  In  the 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN. 


301 


southeastern  portion  of  the  State,  where  the  ground  is  bare 
in  sheltered  places  through  much  of  the  winter,  or  where 
weed  seed,  chaff,  and  other  food  can  be  secured,  this  bird  is 
common  in  the  colder  months.  Its  notes  at  this  season  are 
chiefly  Sparrow-like  chirps. 

It  is  useful  here  mainly  because  of  its  consumption  of 
weed  seeds  in  spring,  fall,  and  winter.  Juncos  come  from 
the  north  with  the 
first  hard  frost, 
and  are  among  the 
most  abundant  of 
our  fall  migrants. 
They  feed  very 
largely  on  the 
seeds  of  amaranth, 
lamb's  quarters, 
sorrel,  wild  sun- 
flower, and  other 
pernicious  weeds. 

A  flock  of  these 
dark  birds  on  the 
new-fallen  snow  is  an  interesting  sight  on  a  cold  winter's 
day,  as  they  come  familiarly  about  the  house  or  barnyard. 
Audubon  says  that  in  winter  they  burrow  in  stacks  of  corn 
or  hay  for  shelter  at  night  during  the  continuance  of  inclem- 
ent weather.  As  spring  comes  they  begin  to  sing  much 
like  the  Chipping  Sparrow.  They  now  converse  together 
with  a  musical  twittering,  and  about  the  first  of  May  they 
leave  for  their  northern  breeding  ground. 

Field  Sparrow.     Bush  Sparrow. 
Spizella  pusilla. 

Length.  —  About  five  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult.  —  Crown  and  back  reddish-brown;  back  feathers  showing  pale  edgings 
and  lightly  streaked  with  blackish ;  whitish  wing  bars ;  cheeks  and  sides 
of  head,  to  crown,  gray;  a  reddish-brown  streak  behind  the  eye;  below, 
gray ;  breast  washed  with  pale  buff ;  bill  pale  reddish. 

Nest.  —  On  ground  or  in  low  bush. 

Eggs.  —  Small,  white,  with  rather  fine  brown  spots. 

Season.  —  April  to  October. 

The  Field  Sparrow  is  a  common  summer  resident  of  Mas- 
sachusetts.    It  arrives  in  southeastern  Massachusetts  some- 


Fig'.  132.  —  Slate-colored  Junco,  one-half  natural  size. 


302 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


times  as  early  as  the  latter  part  of  March,  but  usually  delays 
its  coming  until  April.  It  frequents  bushy  pastures  and 
worn-out  fields,  or  dry,  sandy  sprout  lands.  On  its  first 
appearance  it  seeks  the  shelter  afforded  by  a  wooded  or  bushy 

southerly  slope,  and  for- 
ages from  the  underbrush 
out  into  the  fields. 

The  song  of  the  Field 
Sparrow  is  one  of  the 
sweetest  sounds  in  na- 
ture. It  is  a  fine,  clear 
strain,  opening  with  a 
few  modulated  notes,  and 
ending  in  a  pensive  di- 
minuendo trill,  as  clear  as 
the  sound  of  a  bell.  It 
is  a  characteristic  sound 
of  the  dry  upland,  when 
the  still,  warm  June  day 
sleeps  upon  the  hills,  and 
shimmering  heat  waves 
rise  from  the  warm  turf. 
The  bird  has  also  a  series 
of  Sparrow-like  chirps 
and  twitters,  but  nothing 
to  compare  with  its  song,  which,  though  varied,  is  usually 
the  same  in  character  in  all  parts  of  Massachusetts.  Dr. 
J.  A.  Allen  says  that  the  song  of  the  males  in  Florida  is 
very  different  from  that  of  the  northern  birds. 

The  Field  Sparrow  is  generally  shyer  than  the  Song  Spar- 
row or  the  Chipping  Sparrow,  and  is  usually  found  more 
away  from  the  farm  buildings,  and  in  the  open  field,  pastures, 
or  "  scrub."  It  quite  often  alights  on  trees  to  sing  or  feed. 
I  have  found  it  feeding  on  cankerworms,  tent  caterpillars, 
and  the  caterpillars  of  the  brown-tail  moth.  It  is  therefore 
of  some  value  in  woodland  and  orchard.  It  is  seldom  seen  in 
the  garden  except  when  ripe  weeds  are  to  be  found ;  but  it  is 
more  often  found  in  cornfields  and  potato  fields,  and  Gentry 
says  that  it  eats  cabbage  worms.  It  is  useful  in  the  fields, 


Fig.  133.  — Field  Sparrow,  one-half  natural 
size. 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  303 

as  it  destroys  May  beetles,  leaf  hoppers,  and  sawflies.  It 
eats  more  useful  insects  than  some  other  Sparrows,  and  takes 
a  good  many  spiders,  some  ants,  and  some  earthworms.  It 
also  eats  the  seeds  of  many  weeds,  but  feeds  largely  on  the 
seeds  of  grasses  and  a  little  grain,  mostly  oats.  A  dozen  of 
these  Sparrows  collected  in  a  wheat  field  had  eaten  no  wheat, 
but  were  feeding  on  weed  seed. 

The  Field  Sparrow,  though  less  valuable  to  the  farmer  than 
some  other  species,  is  useful,  and  fills  a  place  of  its  own. 

Chipping  Sparrow.     Chippy.     Chipper.     Chip  Bird.     Hair  Bird. 

Spizella  socialis. 

Length.  —  Five  to  five  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult.  —  Crown  bright  reddish-brown ;  back  brown,  dark-streaked;  a  light-gray 

line  over  the  eye,  a  blackish  line  through  it;  cheeks  and  under  parts  light 

gray  or  pale  ash  ;  tail  slightly  notched. 
Young. — Breast,  sides,  and  top  of  head  streaked. 
Nest.  — Lined  with  hair;  in  a  bush,  vine,  or  tree. 

Eggs.  —  Light  bluish,  with  a  ring  of  dark  spots  around  the  larger  end. 
Season.  — April  to  October. 

This  is  the  little  dooryard  bird  that  nests  in  the  apple  trees 
about  the  house,  and  picks  up  crumbs  on  the  old  stone  door- 
step. It  is  common  in  village  dooryards, 
along  the  roads,  in  orchards,  pastures, 
and  particularly  in  gardens  and  plowed 
lands.  It  holds  the  distinction  of  being 
the  most  familiar  and  useful  of  all  Spar- 
rows in  the  yard  and  garden.  Unlike 
some  other  Sparrows,  it  is  often  found 

Fig.  134.-Chlpping 

far  from  bushy  coverts,  in  the  very  cen-  sparrow,  about  one-half 
ter  of  plowed  fields. 

The  song  of  the  Chipping  Sparrow  is  a  mere  string  of  dry 
chips,  sometimes  repeated  very  rapidly  and  almost  running 
into  a  trill,  sometimes  more  slowly.  On  a  spring  morning 
the  sound  of  the  distant  birds  answering  one  another  in  dif- 
ferent keys  gives  an  impression  like  the  rising  and  falling 
of  the  breath  of  a  sleeper  in  the  fields.  Occasionally  some 
talented  bird  modulates  its  usual  song,  giving  a  somewhat 
more  musical,  varied  rendition,  which  suggests  some  of  the 
songs  of  Warblers.  The  ordinary  notes  are  a  variety  of 


304 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


chips,  a  sort  of  squeak,  and  a  series  of  querulous  twitters, 
uttered  when  the  bird  is  angry.  The  males  are  sometimes 
pugnacious,  and  have  been  known  to  fight  to  the  death. 

The  Chippy  feeds  very  largely  in  spring  and  early  summer 
on  small  caterpillars,  and   is  therefore   very  useful  in  the 

orchard.      Mr.  Kirkland  saw 
a  single    bird    eat   fifty-four 
cankerworms  at  one  sitting. 
The  Chippy  is  destructive  to 
hairy   caterpillars.     It    was 
pig.  135.— Moth  of  the  tent  caterpUter,    the    Chipping    Sparrow  that 
natural Bize.  frequently  interfered  with 

experiments  upon  gipsy  caterpillars,  by  breaking  through 
the  net  that  enclosed  them  and  stealing  the  hairy  worms. 
This  bird  is  a  persistent  enemy  of  the  caterpillar  of  the 
brown-tail  moth,  the  tent  caterpillar,  and  that  of  the  tus- 
sock moth.  Nocturnal  moths,  particularly  Arctians,  and 
Tineid  moths  are  caught  in  the  air.  Currant  worms  do  not 
come  amiss.  It  is  destructive  to  the  codling  moth  and  the 
moths  of  the  tent  caterpillar  and  the  forest  tent  caterpillar. 
In  all,  thirty-eight  per  cent,  of  the  food  of  the  Chipping 
Sparrow  consists  of  animal  matter,  three-fourths  of  which  is 
made  up  of  noxious  insects. 
In  June  ninety-three  per 
cent,  of  the  food  consists  of 
insects,  of  which  thirty-six 
per  cent,  is  grasshoppers, 
caterpillars  form  twenty-five 
per  cent.,  and  leaf-eating 
beetles  six  per  cent. 

I  have  been  much  im- 
pressed with  the  value  of  this 
bird  in  the  garden  during  the 
spring  and  summer  months. 
It  destroys  at  least  three  FI&.  ise.- chipping  sparrows  hunting 
species  of  caterpillar  on  the  beet  worms. 

cabbage.  It  is  the  most  destructive  of  all  birds  to  the 
injurious  pea  louse  (Nectarophora  destructor},  which  caused 
a  loss  of  three  million  dollars  to  the  pea  crop  of  a  single 


PLATE  XXVIII.  —  Chipping  Sparrows  feeding  their  Young. 
(Photograph,  from  life,  by  C.  A.  Heed.)  (From  the  annual 
report  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  19« 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN. 


State  in  one  year.  It  is  a  persistent  destroyer  of  the  grubs 
that  mine  the  leaves  of  beets.  I  watched  one  bird  secure 
eleven  of  these  grubs  in  a  few  minutes.  It  feeds  on  the  eggs 
of  the  parsley  butterfly  (Papilio  polyxenes),  and  also  takes 
young  larva?  of  this  species  and  other  insects  from  the  leaves 
of  celerv,  lettuce,  and  other  small  truck.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  an  investigation  of  the  food  of  this  bird  in  the  garden 
would  show  it  to  be  of  great  value  to  the  market  gardener. 
It  likes  to  feed  on  cultivated  ground,  in  the  shade  of  the 
green  leaves  of  vegetables.  It  creeps  about  noiselessly  up 
and  down  the  rows,  an  unseen  and  unnoticed  influence  for 
good.  Injurious  beetles,  bugs,  leaf  hoppers,  grasshoppers, 
and  ants  are  taken  freely. 

Its  vegetable  food  is  of  less  importance  than  its  animal  food. 
It  eats  wild  cherries,  and  Professor  Beal  says  that  he  has 
seen  it  take  a  few  cultivated  cherries.  Only  four  per  cent, 
of  the  seeds  eaten  are  grain,  principally  oats.  Chickweed 
seed  is  commonly  eaten,  and  some  seeds  of  clover,  ragweed, 
amaranth,  wood  sorrel,  lamb's  quarters,  purslane,  knotweed, 
and  black  bindweed  ;  forty-eight  per  cent,  of  the  seed  eaten 
is  grass  seed,  of  which  twenty-six  per  cent,  is  crab  grass 
and  pigeon  grass,  —  two  common  weeds.  The  seeds  of  crab 
grass  form  the  most  important  part  of  the  vegetable  diet 
whenever  they  can  be  obtained,  for  then  the  birds  fill  them- 
selves with  those  only.  Many  Sparrows  eat  seeds  whenever 
they  are  obtainable,  even  in  summer,  when  insects  are  plenti- 
ful. The  seeds  of  the  dandelion  are  among  the  earliest  that 
the  Chipping  Sparrow  linds  in  summer.  It  frequently  seeks 
the  seeds  of  this  plant  on  lawns.  It  takes  them  one  by  one 
from  the  opening  heads,  and  spends  so  much  time  in  this 
manner  that  it  must  consume  a  great  deal  of  this  seed.  In 
August  it  sometimes  visits  oat  stubble,  where  it  picks  up 
fallen  grain. 

Dr.  Judd  found  that,  on  the  one  side,  only  one  per  cent, 
of  the  food  eaten  was  composed  of  useful  insects,  while  more 
than  twenty-five  per  cent,  consisted  of  insect  pests;  and,  on 
the  other  side,  grain  composed  four  per  cent,  and  weed  seeds 
forty  per  cent,  of  the  food.  These  figures  clearly  show  the 
good  service  rendered  to  man  by  the  Chipping  Sparrow. 


306  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Tree  Sparrow.     Winter  Chippy. 

Spizella  monticola. 

Length.  —  About  six  inches. 

Adult.  —  Crown  chestnut ;  line  over  eye  dull  white;  line  through  eye  dark  (not 
black)  ;  back  bay,  black-streaked;  tail  dusky,  with  light  edgings;  two 
prominent  white  wing  bars;  below,  whitish;  side  of  head,  throat,  and 
upper  breast  tinted  with  ash ;  breast  with  a  central  dusky  spot ;  lower  breast 
and  sides  tinged  with  pale  brownish. 

Season.  —  October  to  April. 

The  Tree  Sparrow  is  a  common  winter  resident  of  most 
parts  of  the  State.     The  species  is  almost  as  regular  in  ap- 
pearance as  the  Junco,  but  not  so  plentiful.     Though  called 
the  Tree   Sparrow,  it  is  largely  a 
ground    Sparrow  while  in    Massa- 
chusetts.    Wherever  it  can  find  a 
plentiful  supply  of  food  and  good 
shelter  it  remains  throughout  the 
winter,   unless   driven    south   by 
snows  so  deep  as  to  cover  its  food 
supply.     It  frequents   thickets    on 
Pig.  137. -Tree sparrow, about    tae   sheltered    side   of  hills,   near 
one-half  natural  size.  swamps,  meadows,  or  weedy  fields. 

In  such  fields  it  often  feeds  far  from  bushy  cover,  but  flies 
quickly  to  the  thicket  upon  the  approach  of  danger. 

This  species  usually  goes  in  flocks,  and  individuals  are  not 
commonly  seen  alone ;  although  a  single  bird  may  some- 
times be  found  with  a  flock  of  Juncos.  It  feeds  mainly  on 
the  ground,  and  picks  up  the  seeds  of  weeds  as  they  fall. 
A  snowfall  merely  brings  the  birds  nearer  the  tops  of  the 
weeds,  and  so  long  as  there  is  plenty  of  seed  they  are  as 
happy  as  the  Snowbirds.  They  can  climb  about  among 
the  stronger  weed  stalks,  clinging  like  a  Goldfinch.  Often 
two  birds  may  be  seen  feeding  from  a  single  weed,  while 
another  hops  about  on  the  snow  below,  gleaning  the  seeds 
that  fall.  This  species  follows  the  Juncos  into  weedy  vege- 
table gardens,  and  flocks  about  farms  and  haystacks  to  pick 
up  seeds.  The  Tree  Sparrows  are  among  the  few  birds 
that  can  "look  our  winters  in  the  face  and  sing."  They 
are  occasionally  heard  singing  in  November  and  December 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AXD    GARDEN.  307 

and  late  in  February,  when  deep  snow  covers  the  ground. 
The  song  is  among  the  sweetest  of  Sparrow  notes,  but  not 
very  strong.  It  slightly  resembles  that  of  the  Fox  Sparrow. 
Like  other  Sparrows,  they  chirp  and  twitter  from  time  to 
time,  but  the  full  chorus  of  a  flock  in  winter  is  a  sound  worth 
going  far  to  hear. 

Seeds  form  ninety-eight  per  cent,  of  the  Tree  Sparrow's 
food  while  it  remains  in  the  United  States.  It  feeds  very 
largely  on  pigeon  grass,  crab  grass,  and  other  grasses,  and 
on  the  seeds  of  ragweed,  amaranth,  lamb's  quarters,  and 
other  weeds.  Only  one  per  cent,  of  the  food  consists  of 
grain,  while  fifty  per  cent,  is  weed  seed.  It  therefore  ren- 
ders some  service,  and  does  no  harm. 

White-throated  Sparrow.     Peabody  Bird. 
Zonotrichia  albicollis. 

Length.  —  About  six  and  three-fourths  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Above,  brown,  black-streaked;  crown  black,  with  a  central  white 
stripe ;  a  white  stripe  above  the  eye,  changing  to  yellow  from  eye  to  bill ; 
below  this  another  black  stripe  extends  along  the  sides  of  head  behind  the 
eye ;  sides  of  head  gray,  a  paler  shade  on  breast ;  large  throat  patch  and 
belly  white ;  sides  brownish  ;  wings  with  two  inconspicuous  white  bars. 

Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  but  duller. 

Young.  —  Crown  dark  brown  ;  line  over  eye  huffy ;  throat  patch  dirty  white. 

Nest.  —  On  ground  or  in  a  low  bush. 

Eggs.  —  Pale,  and  heavily  spotted. 

Season.  —  Spring  and  fall ;  local  in  summer ;  very  rare  in  whiter. 

This  large  and  handsome  Sparrow  is  a  migrant  through  the 
State  in  spring  and  fall ;  many  breed  in  the  north-central 
and  western  parts  of  the  State,  some  in  northern  Worcester 
County,  and  many  others  in  the  Berkshire 
hills.  Occasionally  one  remains  through 
the  winter  in  the  southeastern  portion  of 
the  State  ;  but  most  of  the  White-throats 
that  are  seen  here  are  passing  south  in  Sep- 
tember and  October,  or  goinsr  north  late 
in  April  or  during  the  first  part  of  May. 
The  great  body  of  the  AVhite-throats  usually  one-haif  natural 
passes  through  the  State  within  three  weeks 
in  spring  and  fall.  They  find  shelter  in  brush  piles,  thickets, 
or  shrubbery,  where  they  scratch  about  among  dry  leaves  on 
the  ground. 


308  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


The  alarm  note  is  a  metallic  chip;  and  the  song,  which  is 
often  heard  in  May,  is  a  sweet  whistled  strain,  which  has 
been  rendered  "Old  Sam  Peabody,  Peabody,  Peabody,"  and 
from  this  fancied  resemblance  to  these  words  it  is  called  the 
Peabody  Bird. 

In  May,  when  the  White-throat  passes  north,  it  is  of  some 
service  in  the  destruction  of  beetles.  In  the  fall  it  feeds  to 
some  extent  on  berries  and  berry  seeds,  but  its  main  useful- 
ness at  this  season  lies  in  the  destruction  of  weed  seeds. 
It  is  very  fond  of  the  seeds  of  ragweed  and  polygonum. 
Dr.  Judd  says  that  in  October  (when  these  birds  are  com- 
mon in  Massachusetts)  ragweed  seed  constitutes  forty-five 
per  cent,  of  their  food. 


Grasshopper  Sparrow.     Yellow-winged  Sparrow. 
Goturnicidus  savannarum  passerinus. 

Length.—  About  five  inches. 

Adult.  —  Upper  parts  generally  brown,  streaked  with  black  on  back,  much  varie- 
gated, quail-like,  and  mixed  with  gray  on  rump;  crown  very  dark,  with  a 
buffy  line  through  it;  a  buffy-yellow  stripe  over  eye;  under  parts  buff, 
fading  to  whitish  on  the  belly ;  no  noticeable  breast  streaks ;  wings  below 
the  bend  edged  with  bright  yellow,  ordinarily  concealed  from  view ;  tail 
short. 

Young.  —  Similar,  but  breast  streaked  with  blackish. 

Nest.  —  On  ground. 

Eggs.  —  White,  brown-spotted. 

Season.  —  May  to  September. 

The  Grasshopper  Sparrow  is  common  locally  in  eastern 
Massachusetts,  but  rare  or  wanting  in  many  localities.  In  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  State  it  is  hardly  locally  common, 
except  in  Nantucket.  It  is  found  through  middle  and  south- 
ern Worcester  County  and  in  the  Connecticut  valley,  and  is 
probably  much  more  common  than  is  generally  believed,  as 
it  is  never  conspicuous,  and  is  largely  confined  to  the  open 
fields,  where  it  readily  hides  in  the  grass.  Minot  says  "they 
frequent  almost  exclusively  dry  fields,  particularly  such  as  do 
not  contain  a  luxuriant  vegetation."  While  this  appears  to 
be  true  of  eastern  Massachusetts,  where  many  neglected  fields 
are  of  that  character,  it  is  not  altogether  true  of  Worcester 
County.  Although  this  Sparrow  is  never  found  in  swamps, 
it  is  seen  occasionally  in  meadows,  and  often  inhabits  fertile 


BIRD*    OF  FIELD   AX1)    GARDEN.  309 

grass  lands  and  cultivated  fields.  Many  years  ago,  in  West- 
borough,  I  found  two  nests  of  this  species  while  hoeing  in 
potato  fields,  and  the  birds  were  then  common  in  a  stretch 
of  fertile  rolling  fields  and  meadows  east  of  Worcester. 

It  is  never  found  habitually  in  meadows,  however,  like  that 
closely  related  species,  Henslow's  Sparrow  ;  for,  while  the 
latter,  so  far  as  I  have  observed,  always  breeds  in  wet  land, 
the  Grasshopper  Sparrow  breeds  on  the  slopes  near  by.  I 
have  never  seen  Henslow's  Sparrow  on  the  drier  land  ex- 
cept near  Amherst ;  and  the  Grasshopper  Sparrow  is  rarely 
seen  in  wet  spots,  even  where  the  two  species  occupy  the 
same  fields.  While  these  two  Sparrows  are  locally  common, 
neither  of  them  is  generally  so.  They  resemble  each  other 
so  closely  that  it  is  rather  difficult  to  distinguish  them  in  the 
field  except  by  their  notes  and  their  habitat.  The  streaks 
on  the  breast  of  the  Henslow's  Sparrow  will  identify  it  when 
they  can  be  seen.  The  notes,  however,  are  quite  different. 
The  common  note  of  the  Henslow's  Sparrow  somewhat  re- 
sembles the  syllable  kee'  chick.  When  its  nest  is  approached, 
the  bird  will  allow  the  observer  to  get  within  a  few  feet,  as 
it  moves  through  the  grass  like  a  mouse,  reiterating  this  note. 
The  ordinary  notes  of  the  Grasshopper  Sparrow  are  a  chirr, 
like  the  note  of  an  insect,  and  a  sharp  chick.  The  song, 
which  is  often  uttered  from  the  top  of  a  wall,  a  fence,  or  a 
stone  in  the  field,  much  resembles  the  stridulation  of  a  long- 
horned  grasshopper,  and  gives  the  bird  its  name.  The  lay  is 
very  wreak,  and  often  passes  unnoticed,  or  is  mistaken  for  the 
song  of  some  insect.  Minot  gives  it  as  chic'-chic'-a-see,  with 
the  chief  accent  on  the  last  and  highest  syllable, — a  very 
good  description. 

The  food  of  this  bird  while  in  Massachusetts  is  probably 
about  seventy-five  per  cent,  animal  matter,  largely  insects. 
This  Sparrow  is  very  destructive  to  cutworms,  army  worms, 
wireworms,  click  beetles,  weevils,  and  grasshoppers  ;  spiders, 
myriapods,  snails,  and  earthworms  are  eaten  in  small  quanti- 
ties. It  eats  no  cultivated  fruit,  very  little  grain,  and  some 
seeds  of  grasses  and  weeds.  It  takes  fully  forty  times  as 
many  injurious  as  beneficial  insects,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
useful  birds  of  the  fields. 


310  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Savanna  Sparrow. 
Passerculus  sandwichensis  savanna. 

Length.  —  About  five  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult.  —  Brown  above ;  feathers  generally  pale  (or  gray)  edged,  and  dark-streaked ; 
a  narrow  whitish  stripe  through  crown,  and  a  yellow  line  above  the  eye ; 
white  or  buffy  below,  thickly  streaked  with  dusky;  a  cluster  of  streaks 
on  the  breast  is  sometimes  gathered  into  a  blotch,  as  in  the  Song  Sparrow, 
but  the  tail  is  short  and  notched,  rather  than  long  and  rounded,  as  in  the 
Song  Sparrow,  and  not  noticeably  marked. 

Young.  —  Similar ;  colors  more  suffused ;  no  yellow  over  eye. 

Nest.  —  On  ground. 

Eggs.  —  Bluish-white,  marked  thickly  with  brown. 

Season.  —  April  to  November. 

The  Savanna  Sparrow  is  a  common  summer  resident  along 
portions  of  the  seacoast,  and  through  the  central  and  western 
parts  of  the  State.  It  is  found  along  river  valleys,  in  upland 
meadows,  fertile  fields,  and  pastures.  In  eastern  and  south- 
ern Massachusetts  it  breeds  only  locally  or  near  the  coast, 
but  in  Worcester  County  and  through  the  central  and  western 
parts  of  the  State  it  is  common  in  favorable  localities. 

Although  a  bird  of  the  meadow  or  savanna,  it  is  common 
in  many  open  fields  and  pastures  of  the  hill  country.  It  has  a 
Sparrow-like  chirp,  but  its  notes  and  song  otherwise  much  re- 
semble those  of  insects,  particularly  the  chirping  of  crickets, 
although  the  song  is  perhaps  a  trifle  more  musical  than  that 
of  the  Grasshopper  Sparrow.  Mr.  Hoffman  describes  it  well 
as  two  or  three  preliminary  chirps,  followed  by  two  long, 
insect-like  trills,  the  second  a  little  lower  in  key  than  the 
first,  thus  :  tsip,  tsip,  tsip,  tseeeeeeeee,  tse-ee-ee-ee.  The  song 
is  often  given  from  a  stone,  post,  or  fence.  This  bird  is 
rarely  seen  off  the  ground,  an  occasional  perch  on  a  stone 
heap  or  fence  being  usually  the  only  deviation  from  this  rule ; 
but  it  sometimes  perches  fifteen  to  twenty-five  feet  up  in  a 
tree,  or  flies  from  tree  to  tree  along  the  edge  of  a  field.  Al- 
though it  often  lives  and  breeds  in  the  hill  country,  it  may 
be  seen  in  fresh-water  marshes  during  migrations,  and  fre- 
quents such  spots  as  are  dear  to  Rails  and  Swamp  Sparrows. 
In  the  south  it  is  an  inhabitant  of  wet  fresh-water  meadows 
or  savannas. 

Nearly  half  the  food  of  the   Savanna  Sparrow  while  in 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  311 

Massachusetts  consists  of  insects,  mainly  injurious  species, 
such  as  are  eaten  by  other  Sparrows.  It  is  particularly  fond 
of  beetles.  It  eats  more  ants  than  do  most  Sparrows,  many 
cutworms,  a  few  spiders,  and  some  snails.  The  vegetable 
food  consists  largely  of  the  seeds  of  pigeon  grass,  panic 
grass,  wild  rice,  and  marsh  grasses. 

Vesper  Sparrow.     Grass  Finch.     Bay-winged  Bunting. 
Pocecetes  gramineus. 

Length.  —  About  six  inches. 

Adult.  —  Above,  grayish-brown,  finely  streaked  with  dusky ;  crown  finely 
streaked,  but  with  no  dividing  line ;  cheeks  buffy,  with  a  dark  patch ; 
a  narrow  white  eye  ring ;  below,  whitish  (buffy  where  streaked) ,  narrowly 
streaked  with  brown  or  black  on  breast  and  sides ;  a  bay  patch  near  the 
bend  of  the  whig;  tail  dark,  moderately  long;  outer  tail  feathers  white. 

Nest.  —  On  ground. 

Eggs.  —  Dull  white  or  buffy,  with  many  spots,  usually  overlaid  by  large  dark 
marks  and  scrawls. 

Season.  — April  to  October. 

The  Vesper  Sparrow  is,  next  to  the  Song  Sparrow,  the 
most  abundant  ground  Sparrow  in  Massachusetts.     It  is  gen- 


Fig.  139.  —  Vesper  Sparrow,  one-half  natural  size. 

erally  distributed  wherever  there  are  open  fields  and  upland 
pastures,  but  it  is  not  a  bird  of  the  meadows,  and  is  not  as 
common  in  some  parts  of  southeastern  Massachusetts  as  else- 


312  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


where.  It  is  not  a  dooryard  bird,  like  the  Chipping  Spar- 
row or  Song  Sparrow,  but  prefers  upland  fields,  hill  pastures, 
and  plowed  lands,  at  some  distance  from  the  farm  buildings. 
It  is  sometimes  seen  in  vegetable  gardens. 

It  is  not  so  closely  confined  to  the  ground  as  some  other 
ground  Sparrows,  but  perches  on  ridgepoles,  wires,  and 
trees.  It  frequently  runs  along  the  ground  in  pastures  or 
potato  fields,  keeping  just  ahead  of  the  observer  as  he  walks. 
When  the  female  is  startled  from  her  nest  of  young,  she  uses 
all  her  arts  to  entice  the  intruder  away,  fluttering  along  the 
ground  with  white-bordered  tail  spread  conspicuously,  and 
dragging  her  wings  as  if  sorely  wounded,  — a  tempting  bait 
to  lead  the  disturber  away.  The  white  outer  feathers  in  the 
tail  are  not  often  clearly  visible  when  the  bird  is  standing, 
but  usually  may  be  seen  when  it  flies. 

The  song  of  this  bird,  while  perhaps  less  cheery  than  that 
of  the  Song  Sparrow,  is  sweeter,  and  seems  to  carry  farther 
as  it  floats  down  from  the  hills  after  sunset.  The  bird  some- 
times sings  to  greet  the  rising  moon,  and  even  flutters  into 
the  air,  like  the  Skylark,  with  an  exquisite  burst  of  song. 
Mr.  Burroughs  has  well  named  it  the  Vesper  Sparrow.  The 
ordinary  notes  are  the  usual  Sparrow-like  chips  and  calls. 

In  summer  most  of  the  food  of  this  bird  consists  of  in- 
sects, of  which  beetles  and  grasshoppers  form  the  bulk. 
Since  it  frequents  pastures,  it  picks  up  many  dung  beetles ; 
weevils,  click  beetles,  ground  beetles,  and  leaf  beetles  seem 
otherwise  to  be  preferred  to  other  kinds.  Grasshoppers 
form  the  principal  food  in  midsummer ;  cutworms  are  also 
eaten,  and  the  bird  does  good  work  as  an  insect  eater  in 
field  and  garden.  It  is  also  useful  as  a  destroyer  of  weed 
seeds,  eating  less  grass  seed  than  some  other  Sparrows,  but 
a  great  variety  of  the  seeds  of  weeds  which  it  finds  in  corn- 
fields and  other  fields,  and  in  gardens. 

BLACKBIRDS,    GRACKLES,    ETC. 

This  family  has  been  mentioned  on  p.  224,  and  one  of  its 
members,  the  Baltimore  Oriole,  has  been  described  among 
the  birds  of  orchard  and  woodland  (see  pp.  224-228). 

The  Rusty  Grackle  is  a  mere  migrant  through  the  State 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  313 

in  spring  and  fall,  and  is  not  of  much  economic  value  here  ; 
therefore,  its  description  is  omitted.  The  other  species  of 
the  family  will  be  considered  here,  for  they  all  frequent 
meadows,  grass  fields,  or  cultivated  lands. 

The  Bronzed  Grackle  and  the  Purple  Grackle  are  both 
found  in  the  State,  but,  as  they  are  alike  in  form,  notes,  and 
habits,  they  are  both  known  as  Crow  Blackbirds,  and  will 
not  be  treated  separately. 

Purple  Grackle.     Crow  Blackbird. 

Qidscalus  quiscula. 

Length.  —  Twelve  to  thirteen  and  one-half  inches. 
Adult  Male.  —  Variously  purple,  green,  blue,  violet,  and  bronzy;  wings  and  tail 

mainly  purplish ;   dark  purplish  or  steel-blue  on  neck  and  breast ;   back 

greenish  or  bronzy ;  iris  straw-yellow. 
Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  but  browner. 

Xest.  — A  bulky  structure,  often  built  in  tall  coniferous  trees. 
Eggs.  —  Greenish,  spotted  and  streaked  with  black  and  brown. 
Season.  —  March  to  November.     (This  form  intermingles  with  the  succeeding 

one.) 

Bronzed  Grackle.     Western  Crow  Blackbird. 
Quiscalus  quiscula  cenetis. 

Adult  Male.  —  Similar  to  above,  but  body  brassy  or  bronzy;  head,  neck,  and 
upper  breast  mainly  steel-blue ;  wings  and  tail  violet  and  steel-blue. 

Adult  Female.  —  Similar  to  that  of  the  Purple  Grackle.  Both  the  above  forms 
look  black  at  a  distance,  and  then  are  not  distinguishable  from  one  an- 
other ;  both  forms  have  the  tail  long. 

Nest,  Eggs,  and  Season.  —  Like  those  of  the  Purple  Grackle ;  winters  rarely. 

These  birds,  the  largest  of  the  family  in  Massachusetts,  find 
their  normal  habitat  about  meadows  or  marshes  ;  but  they 
have  taken  kindly  to  civilization,  and,  where  they  are  not 
much  persecuted,  are  common  about  lawns,  fields,  and  gar- 
dens. They  may  often  be  seen  walking  about  on  Boston 
Common  or  in  the  Public  Garden.  They  build  their  nests 
in  tall  shade  trees  near  suburban  and  city  residences  or  about 
cemeteries,  and  they  frequent  well-kept  lawns.  They  are 
so  large  and  powerful  that  not  even  the  Sparrow  can  drive 
them  out;  and  if  the  Sparrows  attack  their  eggs  or  young, 
the  Blackbirds  are  not  slow  to  retaliate  with  effect. 

These  birds  are  conspicuous,  and  when  close  at  hand  are 
unmistakable.  The  tail  is  often  held  with  its  outer  feathers 
upturned  like  the  sides  of  a  boat,  particularly  when  they  fly, 


314  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


which  they  do  usually  at  some  height,  in  rather  a  labored 
manner,  keeping  about  the  same  level.  The  ordinary  note 
is  a  sort  of  hoarse,  loud  chuck,  and  the  song  sounds  much 
like  the  rather  musical  creaking  of  a  rusty  hinge.  They  have 
also  a  metallic,  jangling  note,  and  when  a  number  perch  on  a 
favorite  tree  and  sing  in  chorus, 
the  clanging  and  creaking  they 
produce  are  indescribable. 

When  not  disturbed,  they 
breed  in  companies,  often  in 
groves  of  white  pine  ;  but  where 
they  are  much  shot  at,  they 
separate,  and  each  pair  finds  a 
secluded  place  for  its  nest.  As 
Fig.  14O.  — crow  Blackbird,  male,  soon  as  the  young  are  reared, 

one-half  natural  size.  ,  .     ..  ,  _       ,  . 

the   birds  gather  in   flocks   of 

hundreds  or  even  thousands,  and  forage  together.  In  mi- 
gration they  sometimes  travel  in  immense  armies.  A  great 
flight  of  these  birds  passed  over  Concord  on  Oct.  28,  1904* 
From  my  post  of  observation,  on  a  hilltop,  an  army  of  birds 
could  be  seen  extending  across  the  sky  from  one  horizon  to 
the  other.  As  one  of  my  companions  remarked,  it  was  a 
great  "rainbow  of  birds;"  as  they  passed  overhead,  the  line 
appeared  to  be  about  three  rods  wide  and  about  one  hundred 
feet  above  the  hilltop.  This  column  of  birds  appeared  as 
perfect  in  form  as  a  platoon.  The  individual  birds  were 
not  flying  in  the  direction  in  which  the  column  extended,  but 
diagonally  across  it ;  and  when  one  considers  the  difficulty  of 
keeping  a  platoon  of  men  in  line  when  marching  shoulder 
to  shoulder,  the  precision  with  which  this  host  of  birds 
kept  their  line  across  the  sky  seems  marvellous.  As  the 
line  passed  overhead,  it  extended  nearly  east  and  west.  The 
birds  seemed  to  be  flying  in  a  course  considerably  west  of 
south,  and  thus  the  whole  column  was  gradually  drifting 
southwest.  As  the  left  of  the  line  passed  over  the  Concord 
meadows,  its  end  was  seen  in  the  distance,  but  the  other  end 
of  this  mighty  army  extended  beyond  the  western  horizon. 
The  flight  wras  watched  until  it  was  nearly  out  of  sight,  and 
then  followed  with  a  glass  until  it  disappeared  in  the  distance. 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  315 

It  never  faltered,  broke,  or  wavered,  but  kept  straight  on  into 
the  gathering  gloom  of  night.  The  whole  array  presented 
no  such  appearance  as  the  unformed  flocks  ordinarily  seen 
earlier  in  the  season,  but  was  a  finer  formation  than  I  have 
ever  seen  elsewhere,  among  either  land  birds  or  water-fowl. 
It  seemed  to  be  a  migration  of  all  the  Crow  Blackbirds  in 
the  region,  and  there  appeared  to  be  a  few  Rusty  Blackbirds 
with  them.  After  that  date  I  saw  but  one  Crow  Blackbird. 
It  was  impossible  to  estimate  the  number  of  birds  in  this 
flight.  My  companions  believed  there  were  "millions." 

The  character  of  the  food  of  the  Crow  Blackbirds  is  very 
well  known.  The  large  flocks  in  which  they  gather  in  autumn 
are  very  destructive  to  ripening  corn,  and  some  individuals 
destroy  birds'  eggs  or  young  birds  ;  otherwise,  in  Massachu- 
setts the  birds  are  largely  beneficial.  They  sometimes  pull 
up  a  little  sprouting  corn,  but  are  not  nearly  so  destructive 
in  this  respect  as  the  Crows.  Dr.  AVarren  tells  of  the  dis- 
section of  thirty-one  birds  that  were  shot  in  a  Pennsylvania 
cornfield  :  nineteen  showed  only  cutworms  in  their  stomachs  ; 
seven  had  taken  some  corn,  but  a  very  large  excess  of  in- 
sects, mainly  beetles  and  cutworms,  with  earthworms  ;  the 
remaining  five  had  eaten  chiefly  beetles.  The  Crow  Black- 
bird industriously  follows  the  plow,  and  picks  up  many 
beetles,  grubs,  cutworms,  and  some  earthworms.  In  spring 
and  summer  its  food  in  Massachusetts  is  mainly  insects. 

Nearly  twenty-five  hundred  stomachs  of  the  species  have 
been  examined  in  Washington.  The  food  for  the  year  was 
composed  of  over  thirty  per  cent,  animal  and  almost  seventy 
per  cent,  vegetable  matter,  which  shows  that  the  birds  are  al- 
most as  omnivorous  as  the  Crow.  Insect  food  forms  twenty- 
seven  per  cent,  of  the  whole.  The  greater  part  is  taken  in 
summer.  Beetles,  particularly  Scarabreids  like  the  "June 
bug"  or  "rose  bug,"  Carabids  or  ground  beetles,  curculios 
or  weevils,  form  a  large  part  of  the  food.  The  Grackles 
seem  to  be  fond  of  white  grubs,  and  the  stomach  is  often 
packed  with  these  insects.  Grackles  are  not  so  skillful  in 
digging  them  out  as  is  the  Robin,  but  they  are  sly  enough 
to  snatch  the  grub  away  from  the  Robin  when  he  has  secured 
one.  They  are  very  destructive  to  grasshoppers  and  locusts, 


316  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


which  in  August  make  over  twenty-three  per  cent,  of  their 
food,  and  are  found  and  eaten  by  them  in  nearly  every  month 
of  the  year.  A  good  many  caterpillars  are  eaten,  mainly 
those  species  that  are  found  on  the  ground,  such  as  cutworms 
and  army  worms  ;  but  the  birds  flock  to  caterpillar  outbreaks, 
eating  both  hairy  and  hairless  species.  Crow  Blackbirds  de- 
stroy both  gipsy  moth  and  brown-tail  moth  ;  bugs,  ants,  and 
spiders  are  eaten  also.  Mice,  birds  and  eggs,  frogs,  lizards, 
salamanders,  snakes,  fish,  crustaceans,  mollusks,  and  snails 
form  a  portion  of  the  Grackles'  food.  The  vegetable  food, 
beside  corn  and  other  grains,  consists  of  rather  a  small  quan- 
tity of  fruit,  mainly  wild  seeds,  nuts,  acorns,  and  weed  seed. 
Seventy  per  cent,  of  the  food  of  the  young  birds  consists 
of  insects  similar  to  those  eaten  at  the  same  season  by  their 
parents. 

To  sum  up :  the  Crow  Blackbirds,  though  destructive  to 
corn  and  to  a  less  extent  to  other  grain,  are  indispensable 
because  of  the  vast  amount  of  insects  they  destroy.  In  the 
west  they  are  so  numerous  that  the  farmer  often  must  defend 
himself  against  them  ;  but  in  Massachusetts  their  destruc- 
tion is  not  often  necessary,  and  they  are  seldom  shot  by 
husbandmen  except  when  gathered  in  flocks  among  the  corn. 

Meadowlark.     Old-field  Lark.     Marsh  Quail. 
Sturnella  magna. 

Length.  —  Ten  to  eleven  inches. 

Adult.  —  Upper  parts  brown,  with  many  dark-streaked,  pale-edged  feathers ;  tail 
short;  outer  tail  feathers  largely  white;  a  light  line  through  middle  of 
crown;  a  light  line  over  eye,  yellow  from  eye  to  bill,  and  dark  streak 
behind  eye ;  below,  chiefly  yellow,  with  a  large  black  crescent  on  breast. 

Adult  in  Winter.  —  Redder  above;  lower  parts  duller. 

Young.  —  Under  parts  paler;  crescent  replaced  by  a  few  black  markings. 

Nest.  —  On  the  ground  in  a  field ;  usually  arched  over. 

Eggs.  —  White,  with  brown  spots. 

Season.  —  Resident. 

This  handsome  and  well-known  bird  is  a  common  summer 
resident  of  Massachusetts,  and  often  remains  all  winter  in 
seasons  when  there  is  little  snow,  or  in  favored  localities. 
In  the  southeastern  part  of  the  State,  especially  in  Barnsta- 
ble  County,  it  may  usually  be  seen  in  winter  in  sheltered 
situations  on  marshes  or  meadows.  During  and  after  snow- 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  oil 

storms  it  becomes  quite  domesticated,  and  seeks  food  along 
roads  and  about  dooryards  and  poultry  houses ;  but  ordinarily 
the  Lark  is  a  shy  bird,  and  keeps  well  out  of  gunshot  in  the 
open  fields.  This  species  has  learned  caution  in  the  north 
because  of  continual  persecution  by  gunners ;  but  I  have 
seen  Meadowlarks  as  tame  as  Sparrows  in  the  pine  barrens 
of  southern  Florida. 

The  Lark  is  a  bird  of  the  meadows,  as  its  name  implies; 
but  it  also  frequents  dry  fields,  and  sometimes  may  be  seen 
perched  high  in  a  tree  on  some 
hilltop,  from  which  it  sings  its 
clear  refrain.  Old  fields  are 
favorite  nesting  places,  probably  in 
part  because  the  dead  and  uncut 
grass  offers  concealment  for  the  nest, 
and  in  part  because  in  such  fields  the 
nest  is  undisturbed  by  the  mower. 
This  bird  is  an  adept  at  concealing 
its  nest,  which  sometimes  has  a  cov- 
ered approach.  It  resorts  to  strata- 
gem  to  puzzle  the  searcher.  When  Fig.  i4i.-Meadowiark, 

,          „          ,  ,,  one-half  natural  size. 

the    female    comes    troin    or  goes  to 

the  nest  she  often  runs  through  the  grass  for  some  distance, 
and  seldom  flies  to  it  directly.  Mrs.  Irene  G.  Wheelock, 
in  recording  her  attempts  to  find  a  nest,  states  that  the  male 
carried  butterflies  and  dragon  flies  time  after  time  to  a  point 
one  hundred  yards  from  the  nest,  in  an  apparent  attempt  to 
befool  the  searcher. 

Its  flight  is  an  alternation  of  fluttering  and  slow  sailing, 
and  it  usually  shows  its  white  tail  feathers  often,  especially 
on  rising  and  alighting.  When  on  the  ground  it  does  not 
hop  like  the  Eobin,  but  walks  more  like  the  Crow,  occasion- 
ally opening  and  closing  its  tail,  showing  the  white  feathers 
conspicuously. 

Its  common  alarm  note  is  a  rather  sharp  chatter,  not  loud, 
but  shrill,  which  often  follows  or  precedes  a  long,  pierc- 
ing call.  The  ordinary  song  is  a  rather  plaintive  but  pleas- 
ing whistle  of  a  few  notes,  the  last  usually  held  for  several 
seconds.  This  song  is  uttered  either  from  the  ground,  from 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


a  perch,  or  while  the  bird  is  on  the  wing.  Rarely  a  talented 
individual  soars  aloft,  uttering  an  ecstatic  flight  song,  which 
compares  favorably  with  that  of  the  most  celebrated  song- 
sters. I  have  heard  this  in  full  volume  but  once,  and  then 
found  it  difficult  to  believe  that  it  came  from  the  throat  of  a 
common  Meadowlark.  It  was  not  at  all  suggestive  of  that 
bird's  ordinary  song,  except  in  some  of  the  last  notes,  nor 
did  it  in  the  least  resemble  that  of  the  Western  Meadow- 
lark  ;  it  more  resembled  the  music  of  the  Bobolink,  but  was 
louder  and  not  so  hurriedly  given. 

The  Meadowlark  is  now  quite  generally  protected  by  law 
at  all  times,  and  no  bird  more  fully  deserves  such  protection. 
It  is  practically  harmless,  and  takes  nothing  that  is  of  any 
use  to  man  except  a  few  small  grains  and  seeds.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  one  of  the  most  useful  birds  of  the  fields, 
perhaps  the  most  valuable.  In  summer  almost  ninety-nine 
per  cent,  of  its  food  consists  of  insects  and  allied  forms.  It 
eats  about  all  the  principal  pests  of  the  fields,  and  is  particu- 
larly destructive  to  cutworms,  hairy  ground  caterpillars,  and 
grasshoppers.  In  summer  it  gets  but  few  seeds,  but  in  fall 
and  winter  it  takes  many  weed  seeds.  It  visits  weedy  corn- 
fields and  gardens  in  search  of  ragweed  and  other  seeds,  of 
which  it  devours  enormous  quantities,  which  make  up  about 
one-third  of  the  food  for  the  year.  Even  in  winter  it  pre- 
fers insects  when  it  can  get  them.  Mr.  C.  W.  Nash  says, 
in  his  "Birds  of  Ontario,"  that  several  specimens  shot  in 
winter  contained  only  insects,  taken  about  market  gardens. 
Professor  Beal  says  that  even  in  December  and  January  the 
insect  components  of  the  food  are  thirty-nine  and  twenty- 
four  per  cent. ,  respectively  ;  and  in  March,  when  insects  are 
still  hard  to  obtain,  the  quantity  rises  to  seventy-three  per 
cent.  Professor  Beal  makes  an  ingenious  and  very  moderate 
estimate,  from  which  he  concludes  that  twenty-five  dollars' 
worth  of  hay  is  saved  annually  in  an  ordinary  township 
by  Meadowlarks,  through  their  destruction  of  grasshoppers, 
and  he  values  hay  at  only  ten  dollars  per  ton.  When  we 
consider  that  grasshoppers,  green  grasshoppers,  locusts,  and 
crickets  all  together  form  twenty-nine  per  cent,  of  the  food 
of  this  bird  for  the  year,  and  that  it  is  almost  entirely  in- 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  319 

sectivorous  by  preference,  and  when  we  consider  also  the 
additional  injury  that  must  occur  were  the  insects  and  their 
progeny  allowed  to  increase  through  a  lack  of  Meadowlarks, 
the  value  of  the  bird  becomes  evident. 

Red-winged  Blackbird.     Marsh  Blackbird. 

Agelaius  phceniccus. 

Length.  —  About  nine  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult  Male. — Black,  with  a  light-edged  scarlet  patch  at  bend  of  wing;  often 

only  the  light  edges  of  this  patch  show  when  the  wings  are  closed. 
Adult  Female.  —  Smaller;  grayish-brown,  streaked  heavily  with  dark  browner 

blackish. 

Young.  —  Similar  to  female. 
Xest.  —  In  grass  or  bush ;  rarely  in  a  tree. 

Eggs.  —  Pale  bluish,  with  spots  and  scrawls  of  darker  colors  and  black. 
Season.  — March  to  August. 

Few  birds  are  better  known  than  the  Red-winged  Black- 
bird. Almost  every  small  bog  hole  or  swamp  about  the  farm 
harbors  a  pair  or  more  of  these  birds.  They  are  common 
about  ponds  and  meadows.  The 
males  arrive  in  flocks,  usually  in 
March,  and  sometimes  may  be 
heard  singing  gaily  while  the  ground 
is  still  deeply  covered  with  snow. 
Their  song  is  as  characteristic  a  sign 
of  spring  as  is  that  of  the  early  wood 
frog,  and  their  notes  have  something 
of  the  same  quality.  They  carry 

~          '  rnl          Fig.  142.  — Red-winged  Blaek- 

a   suggestion  of  boggy  ooze.      The       bird>  matef  one.half  natural 

common  note  is  a  single  chuck,  and       size- 

the  ordinary  song  resembles  the  syllables  quong-ka-reee' ',  the 

first  two  uttered  quickly.      Some  individuals  have  a  more 

musical   song,    ending  with   a  jingle  akin    to    that   of  the 

Bobolink. 

Although  the  Red-wings  almost  invariably  breed  in  the 
swamp  or  marsh,  they  have  a  partiality  for  open  fields  and 
plowed  lands  ;  and  most  of  the  Blackbirds  that  nest  in  the 
smaller  swamps  adjacent  to  farm  lands  get  a  large  share  of 
their  food  from  the  farmer's  fields.  They  forage  about  the 
fields  and  meadows  when  they  first  come  north  in  spring. 
Later,  they  follow  the  plow,  picking  up  grubs,  worms,  and 


320  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


caterpillars;  and  should  there  be  an  outbreak  of  canker- 
worms  in  the  orchard,  the  Blackbirds  will  fly  at  least  half  a 
mile  to  get  cankerwornis  for  their  young.  Wilson  estimated 
that  the  Red-wings  of  the  United  States  would  in  four  months 
destroy  sixteen  thousand,  two  hundred  million  larvae. 

They  eat  the  caterpillars  of  the  gipsy 
moth,  the  forest  tent  caterpillar,  and 
other  hairy  larvse.  They  are  among  the 
most  destructive  birds  to  weevils,  click 
beetles,  and  wire  worms.  Grasshoppers, 
ants,  bugs,  and  flies  form  a  portion  of 
Fig  143  —  Red-winged  the  Red-wings'  food.  They  eat  com- 
SSSSST11  P^tively  little  grain  in  Massachusetts, 
although  they  get  some  from  newly  sown 
fields  in  spring,  as  well  as  from  the  autumn  harvest;  but 
they  feed  very  largely  on  the  seeds  of  weeds  and  wild  rice 
in  the  fall.  In  the  south  they  join  with  the  Bobolink  in 
devastating  the  rice  fields,  and  in  the  west  they  are  often  so 
numerous  as  to  destroy  the  grain  in  the  fields  ;  but  here  the 
good  they  do  far  outweighs  the  injury,  and  for  this  reason 
they  are  protected  by  law. 

Cowbird.     Cow  Blackbird.     Cow  Bunting. 
Molothrus  ater. 

Length.  —  Seven  and  one-half  to  about  eight  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Lustrous  black,  with  a  rich,  lustrous  brown  head  and  neck. 

Adult  Female.  —  Brownish-gray,  slightly  darker  on  wings  and  tail. 

Nest.  —  That  of  some  other  bird. 

Eggs.  —  White,  speckled  all  over  with  brown. 

Season.  —  April  to  October. 

This  much-maligned  bird,  which  builds  no  home  of  its 
own,  and  depends  on  others  to  hatch  and  rear  its  young,  is, 
nevertheless,  an  essential  part  of  nature's  plan.  Birds  that 
rear  their  own  young  are  confined  by  necessity  to  a  certain 
radius  about  their  nests  ;  but  the  scattered  bands  of  Cowbirds 
form  a  wandering,  unattached  light  squadron  of  insect  de- 
stroyers, which  all  summer  long  can  go  wherever  their  pres- 
ence is  most  needed.  In  the  warmer  months  of  the  year  they 
feed  almost  entirely  on  insects,  but  during  the  colder  months 
they  live  on  seeds. 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEX.  321 

Throughout  the  season  the  sexes  intermingle  promiscu- 
ously, from  the  time  the  females  arrive  in  the  spring.  As 
usual  with  other  species,  the  males  come  first,  and  may  be 
seen  singly,  in  small  flocks,  or  with  other  species  of  Black- 
birds. They  perch  in  the  tops  of  tall  trees,  and  their  only 
song  is  a  long,  thin  whistle,  high  keyed  and  little  varied. 
The  common  note  is  a  chuck. 

The  females  soon  arrive  from  the  south,  and  then  flocks 
may  be  seen  in  which  they  usually  predominate.  The  eggs 
are  deposited  from  April  to  June,  in  the  nests  of  other  and 
usually  smaller  birds.  An  egg  is  dropped  slyly  when  the 
owner  of  the  nest  is  absent,  and  generally  after  she  has  laid 
some  of  her  own.  Sometimes  the  little  foster  mother  refuses 
to  adopt  the  offspring  of  another,  and  abandons  the  nest, 
or  builds  another  nest  above  the  first  one  ;  but  usually  she 
good-naturedly  settles  down  upon  her  nest  to  incubate. 

The  Cowbird's  egg  is  larger  than  those  of  the  foster  mother, 
and  is  commonly  deposited  in  the  center  of  the  nest.  Per- 
haps it  gets  more  heat  than  the  other  eggs,  for  it  hatches  first. 
The  young  Cowbird  grows  faster  than  the  other  chicks,  and 
gets  about  all  the  food.  It  is  soon  able  to  dislodge  its  smaller 
and  weaker  foster  brothers  and  sisters,  who  perish ;  then  the 
young  Cowbird  monopolizes  the  entire  time  and  care  of  its 
foster  parents.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  a  small  War- 
bler or  a  Chipping  Sparrow  feeding  a  young  Cowbird  twice 
its  own  size  ;  but  as  soon  as  the  stranger  is  well  able  to 
shift  for  itself,  it  joins  a  flock  of  its  own  species. 

Grasshoppers  seem  to  be  its  favorite  animal  food,  but  leaf 
hoppers,  also  very  destructive  to  grass,  are  freely  taken. 
Undoubtedly  the  Cowbird  is  of  great  benefit  to  pastures, 
where  it  follows  the  cattle  about,  picking  up  insects  that 
start  up  around  them.  \Veevils  and  curculios  are  commonly 
eaten  ;  also  caterpillars,  but  to  a  less  extent  than  other  Black- 
birds eat  them.  Cowbirds  take  wasps,  ants,  and  flies  in  small 
quantity,  and  a  number  of  spiders.  Vegetable  food,  however, 
forms  the  main  part  of  the  Cowbird's  subsistence  in  spring 
and  fall,  and,  according  to  Professor  Beal,  it  constitutes 
nearly  seventy  per  cent,  of  all  the  food  for  the  year.  A 
large  part  of  this,  however,  is  weed  seed,  of  which  the  seed 


322  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


of  ragweed,  barn  grass,  and  panic  grass  form  probably  the 
greatest  portion  ;  but  the  Cowbird  eats  more  grain  than  the 
Red-winged  Blackbird.  Undoubtedly  its  food  habits  are  on 
the  whole  beneficial ;  but,  as  every  Cowbird  is  reared  at  the 
expense  of  the  lives  of  at  least  two  other  birds,  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  species  suffers  accordingly,  and  its  social  habits 
are  certainly  not  exemplary,  if  judged  by  human  standards. 

Bobolink.     Skunk  Blackbird.     Reed  Bird.     Rice  Bird. 

Dolichonyx  oryzivorus. 
Length.  —  About  seven  and  one-fourth  inches. 
Adult  Mule.  —  In  spring  and  early  summer,  mainly  black;  nape  creamy  buff; 

streaks  on  upper  back  grayish-white ;  shoulders  and  lower  back  ashy-white ; 

in  August  and  September  the  plumage  resembles  that  of  the  female. 
Adult  Female  and  Young.  —  Upper  parts  brown,   dark-streaked;   lower  parts 

yellowish-brown,  unstreaked. 
Nest.  —  On  ground,  in  grass. 
Eggs. — Gray,  spotted  with  brown  and  overlaid  with  dusky  streaks,  blotches, 

and  scrawls. 
Season.  —  May  to  September. 

The  Bobolink  is  the  harlequin  of  the  spring  meadows.  He 
is  a  happy-go-lucky  fellow,  with  his  suit  on  wrong  side  up, 
the  black  beloAv  and  the  white  above  ;  a  reckless,  rollicking 

sort  of  a  fowl,  throwing  care 
to  the  winds,  and  always 
bent  on  a  lark.  His  spirits 
are  of  the  effervescent  kind, 
and  his  music  bubbles  irre- 
pressibly  forth  at  such  a  rate 
that  half  a  dozen  notes  seem 
to  be  crowding  upon  the 

Pig.   144.  —  Bobolink,   male,   and   army      heels    of  every  One    Uttered, 
worm,  one-half  natural  size.  Indeed,  this  IS  about  the  Only 

bird  that  completely  baffles  the  latter-day  "  interpreters "  of 
bird  music.  His  notes  tumble  out  with  such  headlong  rapid- 
ity, in  an  apparent  effort  to  jump  over  each  other,  that  it  is 
next  to  impossible  for  the  scribe  to  set  them  down  in  the 
proper  sequence  of  musical  notation.  Nevertheless,  this 
harum-scarum  expression  of  irrepressible  joy  is  of  the  most 
pleasing  character,  and  ranks  among  the  finest  music  of  the 
fields. 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  323 

The  males  chase  each  other  madly,  and  swiftly  pursue  the 
females  over  the  grass  tops ;  or,  sailing  with  down-bent 
wings,  pour  forth  their  torrent  of  music.  The  alarm  note  is 
a  metallic  cJienk.  When  the  young  have  been  reared,  the 
males  begin  to  lose  their  striking  dress,  the  song  ceases, 
and  early  in  August  the  Bobolinks  are  seen  flying  about 
in  small  flocks,  uttering  mellow 
chinks,  as  they  prepare  for  their 
southern  journey. 

In  May,  June,  and  July  insects 
form  about  eighty-five  per  cent, 
of  the  Bobolink's  food .     The  bird 
is  very  destructive  to  grasshop-       FI*  145.  -  Boboiin*.  female, 
pers  and  caterpillars,  particularly  to  the  army  worm.     It  cats 
some  parasitic  Hymenoptera,  and  this  may  be  looked  upon 
as  a  bad  habit ;  but  otherwise  little  fault  can  be  found  with 
the  Bobolink  while  it  remains  in  the  meadows  of  the  north. 

In  the  south,  however,  the  Bobolinks,  together  with  the 
Blackbirds,  cause  an  annual  loss  of  fully  two  million  dollars 
to  the  rice  growers,  and  would  destroy  the  whole  crop  were 
not  all  the  hands  on  every  plantation  engaged  during  the 
"  rice  bird  "  season  in  shooting  or  frightening  the  birds.  This 
continued  shooting  undoubtedly  has  had  some  effect  on  the 
number  of  birds  breeding  in  the  north,  and  Bobolinks  are 
not  now  so  generally  common  in  Massachusetts  as  they  were 
forty  years  ago.  They  have  been  reduced  some  by  early 
mowing  in  the  nesting  fields,  but  their  diminution  from  year 
to  year  is  hardly  perceptible. 

PIGEONS    AND    DOVES. 

This  group  of  birds  is  now  represented  in  Massachusetts 
by  but  one  species,  the  Mourning  Dove,  as  the  Passenger 
Pigeon  appears  to  have  disappeared,  and  may  now  be  ex- 
tinct. The  Mourning  Dove,  which  is  often  mistaken  for  it, 
is  now  protected  by  law  at  all  times,  and  probably  will  be 
saved  from  the  fate  of  the  Pigeon.  Presumably  all  the  sup- 
posed "  wild  Pigeons  "  now  reported  by  different  observers 
in  Massachusetts  are  Mourning  Doves. 


324  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


Mourning  Dove.     Carolina  Dove.     Turtle  Dove. 
Zenaidura  macroura. 

Length.  —  Nearly  twelve  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Upper  parts  mainly  grayish-blue,  shaded  with  olive-brown;  head 
and  neck  brown,  with  a  bluish  overcast ;  sides  of  neck  iridescent,  with  red- 
dish and  golden  reflections ;  a  black  spot  below  the  ear ;  outer  tail  feathers 
and  wing  feathers  show  bluish  when  spread ;  all  outer  tail  feathers  have 
a  black  bar  and  a  white  tip;  tail  rather  elongated  and  pointed;  lower 
parts  purplish,  changing  to  yellowish  on  belly,  bluish  on  sides,  and  whitish 
on  chin. 

Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  but  duller. 

Young.  —  Grayer  than  female;  many  feathers  have  whitish  edgings. 

Nest.  —  A  mere  platform  of  sticks,  at  a  moderate  height  in  a  tree,  near  trunk. 

Eggs.  — Two;  white. 

Season.  —  April  to  October. 

The  Mourning  Dove  was  never  so  abundant  in  this  State 
as  the  Passenger  Pigeon,  for  Massachusetts  is  near  the  north- 
ern border  of  its  range ;  still,  it  was  once  common  where 
it  is  now  rare,  particularly  in  western  Massachusetts,  but  it 
is  now  so  uncommon  generally  as  to  be  of  little  economic 
importance.  In  some  parts  of  Middlesex,  Plymouth,  and 
Barnstable  counties  it  is  still  common  locally  in  spring 
and  summer,  and  its  mournful  cooing  is  heard  almost  daily. 
A  variety  of  notes  has  been  attributed  to  this  species, 
but  I  can  recall  only  the  "  coo,"  and  a  twittering  sound  that 
appears  to  be  made  by  the  wings  when  it  first  rises  in  flight. 

This  Dove  is  of  no  great  value  as  an  insect  eater,  for  it 
feeds  largely  on  seeds.  Wheat,  oats,  rye,  corn,  and  barley 
are  all  eaten,  forming  about  thirty-two  per  cent,  of  the  food, 
but  perhaps  three-fourths  of  this  is  waste  grain  picked  up 
in  the  fields.  Buckwheat  is  a  favorite  food.  Some  grain  is 
taken  from  newly  sown  fields,  but  the  greater  part  of  the 
food  consists  of  weed  seeds.  Nash  says  that  the  crops  of 
these  birds  are  often  so  full  of  seeds  that,  if  a  bird  is  shot, 
the  crop  bursts  open  when  it  strikes  the  ground.  He  says 
that  bindweed  is  a  favorite  food.  A  Dove  that  was  exam- 
ined at  the  Department  of  Agriculture  was  found  to  contain 
ninety-two  hundred  seeds,  mostly  those  of  noxious  weeds, 
and  none  of  useful  plants.  This  was  rather  an  unusual  num- 
ber, but  it  shows  what  the  bird  is  capable  of  doing  as  a 
helper  on  the  farm. 


BIRDS  OF  FIELD  AND  GARDEN.         325 


GROUSE,  PARTRIDGES,  ETC. 

The  Grouse  are  treated  among  the  birds  of  orchard  and 
woodland,  on  pp.  266-274. 

Bob-white.     Quail. 

Colinus  viryinianus. 

Length.  —  About  ten  inches. 

Adult  Male. — Upper  parts  mainly  reddish-brown,  with  dark  streaks  and  light 
edgings ;  forehead  and  broad  line  over  eye  white ;  throat  patch  white,  bor- 
dered with  black ;  tail  short,  gray ;  crown,  upper  breast,  and  neck  all  round 
brownish-red ;  breast  and  belly  whitish,  narrowly  barred  and  marked  with 
crescent-shaped  black  marks ;  sides  reddish-brown. 

Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  but  duller;  without  the  black  on  the  head,  and  the 
white  mainly  replaced  by  buff. 

Nest. —  On  ground,  among  bushes,  grass,  or  grain. 

Eggs.  — White,  often  stained  with  brown. 

Season.  —  Resident. 

Xo  bird  is  more  typical  of  the  southern  Xew  England  farm 
than  the  Quail.1  Its  clear  and  mellow  call  is  still  a  char- 
acteristic sound  of  spring  and  early  summer.  The  plowman 
hears  it  as  he  drives  his  team  atield, 
and  it  mingles  with  the  ringing  sound 
of  the  whetstone  on  the  scythe. 

The  Quail  is  an  inhabitant  of  the 
transition  zone,  and  cannot  maintain 
itself  much  farther  north  than  Massa- 
chusetts except  along  the  coast,  where 
the  winters  are  less  severe  than  in 
the  interior.  It  gets  its  sustenance 
mainly  from  the  ground  ;  hence,  when  Fig.  146.- Bob-white,  one- 

,  "     .     .       ,  ,        .,,  half  natural  size. 

the  earth  is  deeply  covered  with  snow 

its  food  is  hard  to  obtain,  and  many  Quail  are  starved  or 
frozen  under  the  snow  during  hard  winters,  as  was  the  case 
during  the  winter  of  1903-04.  Such  winter  killings  occur 
many  times  during  a  century,  and  the  birds  have  always 
partially  recovered  their  lost  ground  ;  but  unless  they  can 
receive  absolute  protection  for  a  series  of  years  after  such 
seasons  their  recovery  will  be  rendered  increasingly  difficult, 

1  The  name  Quail  is  a  misnomer,  for  the  bird  is  not  a  Quail,  but  more  nearly  a 
Partridge,  as  it  is  called  in  the  south.  It  resembles  the  Quail  of  Europe,  hence 
the  Xew  England  name,  which  will  undoubtedly  "  stick." 


326  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


on  account  of  the  great  accession  to  the  number  of  gunners. 
The  Quail  is  not  easily  extirpated,  for,  unlike  the  Wood- 
cock, it  waits  until  the  weather  is  mild  before  beginning  its 
nest ;  and  it  is  very  prolific,  and  sometimes  rears  more  than 
one  brood  in  a  season .  From  twenty-four  to  forty-two  eggs 
are  said  to  have  been  found  in  a  single  nest,  but  these  were 
probably  the  product  of  more  than  one  bird. 

The  pure  strain  of  the  old  race  of  Massachusetts  Quail  is 
believed  to  have  been  practically  eliminated  by  shooting  and 
winter  killing,  and  most  of  the  birds  now  existing  in  the 
State  are  supposed  to  represent  a  mongrel  race,  —  an  admix- 
ture of  the  blood  of  Massachusetts  birds  and  those  of  the 
south  and  west.  Some  naturalists  assert,  however,  that  no 
introduced  southern  birds  survive  their  first  winter  in  Massa- 
chusetts ;  but  Mr.  H.  H.  Kimball,  secretary  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Fish  and  Game  Protective  Association,  who  has  been 
instrumental  in  introducing  and  "planting"  many  of  these 
birds,  has  trustworthy  evidence  that  in  some  cases  at  least 
they  have  wintered  well  and  become  established. 

The  breeding  season  of  the  Bob-  white  extends  through  May, 
June,  and  July,  and  the  males  may  be  heard  calling  occasion- 
ally as  late  as  the  first  of  October.  According  to  Dr.  Judd, 
Mr.  Robert  Ridgway  found  a  clutch  of  freshly  deposited 
eggs  in  a  nest  in  southern  Illinois  on  October  16,  and  H.  C. 
Munger  found  another  set  in  Missouri  in  January.  The 
parent  bird  was  found,  later,  frozen  on  the  nest.  This  seems 
to  indicate  a  latent  tendency,  like  that  of  the  domestic  fowl, 
to  lay  eggs  at  any  season  of  the  year,  —  a  trait  which  might 
give  added  value  to  the  species  in  domestication.  The  nest 
is  usually  made  in  grass  land,  in  some  old  field,  or  in  a 
bushy  thicket  along  its  border,  and  is  often  well  concealed. 

Young  Quail  are  said  to  run  about  the  moment  they  are 
hatched.  While  this  may  be  an  exaggeration,  probably  all 
the  eggs  in  a  litter  are  hatched  at  about  the  same  time,  and 
the  young  birds  are  able  to  leave  the  nest  very  soon  after- 
ward. The  first  downy  chicks  are  usually  seen  in  July. 
They  are  very  small,  and  are  streaked  somewhat  like  Bantam 
or  Brown  Leghorn  chicks.  Their  protective  coloring  is  such 
as  to  render  them  invisible  when  motionless  on  the  ground, 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  327 

where  they  squat  with  closed  eyes  at  the  first  danger  .signal. 
The  driver  of  my  heavy  farm  wagon  saw  a  mother  bird  one 
day  in  the  road  before  him.  He  stopped  the  slow  team  at 
once,  but  too  late  to  save  three  of  the  young  that,  hidden  in 
the  rut,  had  been  run  over  by  the  wheels.  He  found  and 
picked  up  a  live  one  squatted  there. 

All  through  the  breeding  season  the  common  call  of  the 
male,  "Bob-white,"  or  "Bob-Bob-White,"  may  be  heard, 
particularly  just  before  a  rain,  and  the  farmers  translate  the 
cry  as  "More-wet,"  or  "Some-more-wet."  At  a  distance 
this  call  is  a  clear  whistle.  Dr.  Judd  says  that  when  uttered 
within  ten  feet  of  the  hearer  it  loses  its  melody  and  becomes 
a  mere  nasal  shriek.  At  the  approach  of  danger  the  bird 
can  reduce  the  volume  of  sound  at  will,  so  that  when  it 
stands  within  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet  of  the  listener  its 
whistle  seems  to  come  from  a  point  many  rods  awav,  —  an 
accomplishment  which  I  have  heretofore  noted  as  possessed 
by  other  birds.  The  call  when  thus  subdued  is  of  exactly 
the  same  tone  and  pitch  as  usual,  quite  as  clear,  and  deliv- 
ered in  exactlv  the  same  way.  So  far  as  my  observations 
go,  the  bird  when  calling  sits  or  stands 
in  its  usual  position,  throwing  up  its 
head  slightly  in  enunciating  "Bob," 
and  then  throwing  it  wrell  back  and 
pointing  the  bill  skyward  when  utter- 
ing the  "white,"  as  is  shown  in  the 

r,  £.±  i      .    ,  "Bob,"  "white." 

accompanying  ngures,  alter  sketches      -pig.  147.— The  morning 
from  the  wild  bird.  calL 

Dr.  Judd  watched  a  Quail  that  called  in  a  somewhat  simi- 
lar manner,  except  that  when  three  notes  were  given  it  de- 
pressed its  bill  almost  to  its  breast  in  uttering  the  second. 
He  thus  describes  the  calls  of  the  mated  birds  :  — 

Then  followed  a  series  of  queer,  responsive  "cater\vaulings,"  more 
unbirdlike  than  those  of  the  Yellow-breasted  Chat,  suggesting  now  the 
call  of  a  cat  to  her  kittens,  now  the  scolding  of  a  caged  gray  squirrel, 
now  the  alarm  notes  of  a  mother  Grouse,  blended  with  the  strident  cry 
of  the  Guinea  Hen.  As  a  finale,  sometimes  came  a  loud,  rasping  noise, 
not  unlike  the  effort  of  a  broken-voiced  Whip-poor-will. 


328  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


When  the  broods  are  scattered  by  the  gunner,  they  are 
reassembled  again  by  a  whistled  call  of  the  old  bird,  which 
has  been  given,  " ka-loi-kee,  ka-loi-kee,"  and  is  answered  by 
the  whistled,  repeated  response,  "ichoil  kee."  The  syllables 
are  almost  run  together.  The  first  call  is  uttered  with  a 
rising  and  the  other  with  a  falling  inflection.  It  is  plainly 
the  rallying  call  and  answering  cry.  When  the  scattered 
covey  gets  together,  musical  twitterings  are  often  heard. 
At  night  they  repair  to  some  favorite  locality,  where  they 
sleep  on  the  ground  in  a  ring,  heads  out  and  shoulder  to 
shoulder.  In  this  formation  there  are  always  some  birds  to 
face  and  discover  danger,  upon  whichever  side  it  approaches. 
One  spring  into  the  air  gives  each  bird  wing  room,  and  off 
they  fly  in  all  directions,  an  animated  "feathered  bombshell," 
exploding  in  the  darkness  with  a  roar  of  pinions  sufficient  to 
startle  and  possibly  baffle  an  enemy,  as  the  belated  traveller 
who  has  happened  to  disturb  them  at  night  will  attest.  They 
sometimes  gather  into  the  same  formation  in  the  daytime. 

In  Massachusetts  the  birds  usually  roost  in  thickets,  black- 
berry tangles,  or  woods,  and  often  use  the  same  roosting 
place  for  several  nights  in  succession.  They  feed  largely  in 
fields,  gardens,  and  cultivated  land  ;  but  when  pursued  they 
often  take  to  the  swamps  or  woods,  where  they  perch  in  trees, 
usually  on  the  side  farthest  from  the  pursuer,  sitting  upright 
on  the  branches  or  crouching  close  to  the  trunk.  Their 
habits  during  the  shooting  season  are  well  known.  A  great 
deal  of  ink  has  been  used  in  discussing  the  question  whether 
the  Quail  is  able  to  "hold  its  scent,"  as  it  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  dogs  are  frequently  at  fault  in  trailing  this  bird. 
When  the  dog  is  alone,  the  bird,  even  in  open  ground, 
apparently  gives  itself  little  uneasiness,  but  simply  settles 
quietly  down  where  it  stands  until  it  lies  flat  on  its  breast, 
with  head  drawn  down  so  close  to  the  shoulders  that  it 
might  well  pass  for  a  brown  clod.  It  remains  thus,  allows 
the  dog  to  pass  within  a  few  yards  or  even  a  few  feet,  and 
keeps  quiet  until  all  danger  is  past.  But  let  a  human  being 
appear,  and  much  greater  precautions  are  taken.  I  have 
seen  a  bird  in  open  ground  run  and  hide  in  a  slight  hol- 
low, or  conceal  itself  by  crouching  between  two  sections  of 


BI1WS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  329 

a  stump.  If  there  are  trees  near  by,  it  runs  quickly  and 
squats  upon  the  ground  behind  a  tree  or  close  to  its  trunk. 
Its  resemblance  to  its  surroundings  is  so  close  that  it  seems 
to  disappear,  effacing  itself  before  one's  eyes  like  a  witch  in 
a  fairy  tale,  as  it  flattens  itself  on  the  ground.  Bob-white 
naturally  "lies  to  a  dog,"  for  it  seems  to  have  a  supreme 
contempt  for  the  blundering  animal.  This  apparent  con- 
fidence in  its  own  invisibility  is  often  fatal,  however,  where 
trained  bird  dogs  are  entered  against  it. 

There  is  some  reason  to  believe  that  the  Quail  is  migratory 
at  times.  Some  people  relate  that  Quail  have  been  seen 
flying  south  in  large  flocks  at  the  approach  of  winter  ;  others 
aver  that  many  have  been  drowned  while  crossing  large 
bodies  of  water ;  still  others  tell  us  that  the  birds  migrate 
long  distances  by  running  ;  but  every  covey  that  I  have  been 
able  to  watch  has  passed  the  winter  not  far  from  the  place 
where  it  was  reared.  These  observations  have  often  been 
interrupted  by  the  destruction  of  the  entire  brood  by  farmers, 
gunners,  or  sportsmen.  A  great  many  broods  "migrate"  in 
this  manner,  never  to  return.  Still,  probably  Grouse  and 
Quail  sometimes  become  restless  in  the  fall,  and  move  about 
the  country  ;  but  it  is  extremely  doubtful  if  there  are  any 
general  movements  of  either  species  that  can  be  designated 
as  autumnal  or  vernal  migrations  in  the  ordinary  sense  in 
which  these  terms  are  applied. 

The  feeding  habits  of  the  Bob-white  are  such  that  it  must 
be  ranked  by  the  farmer  as  one  of  the  most  useful  birds  of 
field  and  garden.  It  is  very  nearly  harmless,  as  it  takes 
little  grain  or  fruit.  Occasionally  in  the  cornfield  it  pecks 
at  a  broken-down  ear  of  corn,  and  it  picks  up  a  good  deal  of 
waste  grain  in  the  stubble  of  oats  and  wheat.  It  sometimes 
eats  a  few  strawberries,  but  these  are  evidently  not  a  favorite 
food,  for  birds  in  captivity  have  refused  them  when  hungry. 
On  the  other  hand,  Bob-white,  during  spring  and  summer, 
feeds  on  many  of  the  most  destructive  pests  of  garden  and 
field,  and  in  fall  and  winter  eats  great  numbers  of  the  seeds 
of  many  noxious  weeds.  Dr.  Judd  makes  some  interesting 
calculations  regarding  the  quantity  of  insects  and  weed  seeds 
consumed  by  the  Bob-white  in  Virginia  and  North  Carolina. 


330  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Estimating  that  there  are  four  birds  to  each  square  mile  in 
these  States,  and  that  each  bird  consumes  half  an  ounce  of 
weed  seed  daily  from  September  1  to  April  1,  he  concludes 
that  one  thousand,  three  hundred  and  forty-one  tons  are  eaten 
by  Quail  annually  in  the  two  States ;  and,  as  insects  form 
about  one-third  of  the  birds'  food  from  June  1  to  August  1, 
he  estimates  that  Quail  consume  three  hundred  and  forty  tons 
of  insects  in  these  States  within  those  two  months. 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  the  Quail  feeds  on  most  of 
the  superlatively  destructive  crop  and  garden  pests  of  North 
America,  among  them  the  Rocky  Mountain  locust,  chinch 
bug,  cotton  worm,  Mexican  cotton  boll  weevil,  army  worm, 
Colorado  potato  beetle,  striped  cucumber  beetle,  May  beetle, 
bean  leaf  beetle,  and  several  species  of  grasshoppers.  More 
than  one-third  of  its  food  for  August  consists  of  insects,  of 
which  very  few  are  useful  species.  The  Quail  eats  many 
ground  beetles,  but  mainly  those  species  which  feed  to  some 
extent  on  vegetation,  and  which  become  destructive  if  allowed 
to  increase  unduly.  It  is  probably  the  most  effective  enemy 
of  the  Colorado  potato  beetle.  A  correspondent  wrote  me 
that  he  had  watched  the  Quail  feeding  on  potato  beetles  and 
other  insects  on  his  farm,  and  believed  that  each  bird  raised 
on  his  place  was  worth  five  dollars  to  him  as  an  insect  killer. 
He  declines  to  allow  any  more  Quail  to  be  killed  on  his 
farm.  Dr.  Judd  says  that  Mr.  C.  E.  Romaine  of  Crockett, 
Tex.,  wrote  that  Quail  were  nesting  about  his  fences  and 
even  in  his  garden,  and  had  kept  his  potato  patch  entirely 
free  from  the  "Colorado  potato  bug."  From  seventy-five 
to  over  one  hundred  potato  beetles  have  been  found  in 
Quails'  stomachs.  Clover-leaf  beetles,  corn-hill  bugs,  wire- 
worms,  and  many  other  beetles  and  larvae  are  eaten.  Pro- 
fessor Aughey  found  five  hundred  and  thirty-nine  locusts  in 
the  stomachs  of  twenty-one  birds,  or  an  average  of  twenty- 
five  apiece.  The  Bob- white  not  only  finds  many  cutworms, 
but  picks  up  the  parent  moths,  as  well  as  ants,  flies,  and 
spiders. 

The  young  are  at  first  fed  almost  entirely  on  insect  food. 
Mr.  Nash  says  they  eat  their  own  weight  of  insects  daily. 
As  an  insect  eater  the  Quail  is  worth  its  weight  in  gold  to 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  331 

the  farmer  and  gardener.  If  it  could  be  protected  and  in- 
creased in  numbers,  and  if  it  could  be  allowed  to  come  con- 
fidently about  the  farmstead,  perhaps  it  would  become  the 
most  useful  bird  of  the  garden. 

In  late  spring  and  early  summer  its  vegetable  food  is 
largely  confined  to  such  seeds  as  it  can  pick  up,  and  to 
green  grass,  chickweed,  sorrel,  clover  and  other  succulent 
leaves,  and  some  buds.  In  the  perennial  problem  of  weed 
destruction  there  is  no  greater  ally  of  the  farmer  than  this 
bird.  It  eats  the  seeds  of  over  sixty  species  of  weeds. 
Seeds  form  over  one-half  its  food,  and  among  them  the  rag- 
weed seems  to  be  the  favorite.  As  many  as  two  hundred  to 
three  hundred  seeds  of  smart  weed,  five  hundred  of  the  red 
sorrel,  seven  hundred  of  the  three-seeded  mercury,  and  one 
thousand  of  ragweed  have  been  eaten  at  a  meal.  According 
to  Dr.  Judd,  five  thousand  seeds  of  green  foxtail  and  ten 
thousand  of  pigweed  have  been  found  in  a  single  bird.  As 
the  fall  advances,  Quail  find  acorns  and  pine  seed  in  the 
woods,  and  in  the  thickets  they  seek  wild  fruit  that  nature 
provides  for  winter  bird-fare.  Although  the  Quail  feed  by 
preference  on  the  ground  in  winter,  when  the  snow  is  deep 
they  seek  shelter  in  tangles  and  thickets,  where  wintering 
berries  grow.  Wherever  the  ground  is  swept  bare  of  snow 
by  the  wind  the  Quail  wander  about,  feeding  on  dried  leaves 
of  plantain  and  other  plants,  with  such  weed  seeds  and  dried 
grasses  as  they  can  find.  Mr.  William  Brewster  tells  me  that 
the  native  Quail  of  Xew  England  eked  out  an  existence  on 
the  berries  of  the  red  cedar  when  the  snow  lay  deep  on  the 
ground,  but  that  the  introduced  Quail  apparently  have  not 
acquired  the  habit,  and  so  succumb  more  readily  to  the  New 
England  winter.  From  all  the  studies  made  regarding  the 
food  of  the  bird,  it  is  clear  that  the  farmer  should  never 
shoot  it,  or  allow  it  to  be  shot  on  his  land.  If  the  Massa- 
chusetts market  must  be  supplied  with  Quail,  they  must  be 
reared  artificially,  for  the  time  is  coming  when  no  Quail  can 
be  obtained  from  other  States.  The  laws  of  most  States 
now  prohibit  their  shipment  to  other  States,  and  there  are 
not  birds  enough  here  to  supply  a  tenth  of  the  demand. 


332  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


PHEASANTS. 

Pheasants  are  closely  related  to  the  Pea  Fowl  and  the 
Domestic  Cock.  They  are  natives  of  Asia,  but  several 
species  have  been  introduced  into  England  and  America. 

Ring-necked  Pheasant. 
Phasianus  lorquatus. 

Length.  —  Varying  according  to  length  of  tail,  but  reaching  three  feet. 

Adult  Male.  —  Head  and  neck  dark,  burnished  blue,  with  reflections  of  other 
shades;  a  white  ring  around  neck;  back  orange-brown  to  reddish,  with 
black  and  other  variegations;  breast  coppery-chestnut,  with  purplish 
edgings  and  some  greenish  gloss;  tail  olive-brown,  with  red-purplish 
edgings,  and  crossed  with  blackish  bars ;  bare  skin  of  head  scarlet. 

Adult  Female.  — Smaller;  tail  shorter,  and  general  plumage  brown,  marked  with 
blackish. 

Young.  —  Similar  to  female. 

Nest.  —  On  ground. 

Eggs.  —  Similar  to  those  of  a  small  domestic  fowl. 

Season.  —  Resident. 

The  Ring-neck  was  first  imported  into  Oregon  from  China, 
and  wras  introduced  into  Massachusetts  from  the  Pacific  coast 
in  1894  by  the  Massachusetts  Commissioners  on  Fisheries  and 

Game,  who  have  since  propa- 
gated the  birds  and  liberated 
them  in  various  parts  of  the 
State.  It  was  brought  to 
this  country  under  the  name 
of  Mongolian  Pheasant,  but 

Fig.  148.  —  Ring-necked  Pheasant. 

is  quite  distinct  from  that 

species,  to  which  it  has  only  a  general  likeness.  When  its 
acclimatization  here  was  proposed,  I  wrote  the  late  John 
Fannin,  then  curator  of  the  Provincial  Museum  of  British 
Columbia,  inquiring  whether  the  Pheasants  which  had  been 
introduced  there  had  proved  injurious  to  native  birds  or 
farm  crops.  He  replied  that  on  Vancouver  Island,  where 
Pheasants  were  then  numerous,  they  had  driven  the  Grouse 
to  the  woods  ;  but  that  this  did  little  harm,  as  Grouse  were 
naturally  wood  birds,  while  the  Pheasants  were  birds  of  the 
open  country.  They  were  doing  some  damage  to  crops, 
but  this  had  not  caused  any  cry  for  their  abatement,  and 
the  people  generally  considered  them  a  valuable  acquisition. 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  333 

In  1897  Mr.  F.  H.  Mosher  confined  two  adult  birds  at 
Maiden.  They  were  given  some  choice  of  food,  and  were 
fond  of  grain,  weed  seeds,  vegetables,  fruit,  and  insects. 
They  ate  seventy  full-grown  gipsy  moth  caterpillars  in  half 
a  day.  Within  another  half  day  they  ate  one  hundred  and 
eight  egg-bearing  female  gipsy  moths.  No  young  birds 
could  be  secured  for  experiment. 

In  1903  complaints  began  to  come  in  that  Pheasants  were 
injuring  crops  and  killing  game  birds.  Circulars  sent  out 
to  three  hundred  correspondents  in  different  parts  of  the 
State  brought  replies  regarding  these  birds  from  over  two 
hundred  people.  A  considerable  number  of  correspondents 
had  never  heard  of  the  species  in  their  vicinity.  Forty-two 
stated  that  the  bird  was  not  then  present  in  their  sections. 
Thirty  asserted  either  that  it  was  very  rare  in  their  vicinity 
or  had  disappeared.  Pheasants  were  reported  as  numer- 
ous only  near  Winchester,  where  the  State  pheasantry  was 
located,  in  a  few  other  places  where  they  wrere  being  bred, 
and  in  portions  of  Essex  County,  where  they  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  breed  on  large  estates  on  which  no  gunning  was 
allowed.  Forty-five  persons  stated  that  Pheasants  were 
doing  no  injury  to  crops  or  game  birds.  Three  persons  com- 
plained that  Pheasants  were  killing  Bob-whites  and  Ruffed 
Grouse ;  and  nine  asserted  that  Pheasants  were  injuring 
crops,  principally  corn,  tomatoes,  peas,  beans,  cabbages,  and 
potatoes.  Practically  all  these  complaints  came  from  those 
few  sections  where  the  birds  were  becoming  numerous. 
Pheasants  have  taken  more  of  my  sprouting  corn  than  have 
either  Crows  or  squirrels.  They  do  not  pull  it  up,  as  the 
Crows  do,  but  dig  it  up  with  the  beak.  In  other  localities 
they  are  said  to  "pull  more  corn  than  the  Crows."  In  the 
fall  they  eat  what  corn  they  can  reach  from  the  ground,  and 
in  Wareham  they  are  said  to  dig  "bushels"  of  potatoes. 

The  evidence  regarding  the  killing  of  game  birds  was 
merely  circumstantial.  Several  reputable  persons  asserted 
that  since  Pheasants  had  become  common  they  had  found 
"both  Partridges  and  Quail  with  their  heads  pecked  open." 
Other  birds  of  these  species  were  said  to  have  borne  evi- 
dence of  having  been  slain  in  combat  with  a  larger  bird. 


334  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


One  man  is  reported  to  have  seen  a  Pheasant  kill  a  Par- 
tridge. I  watched  the  Quail  and  Pheasant  feeding  together 
at  Wareham,  and  one  day  saw  a  Pheasant  strike  a  Quail 
on  the  head  with  its  beak,  exactly  as  a  hen  will  sometimes 
strike  and  kill  a  strange  chicken.  In  this  case,  however,  the 
Quail  escaped,  but  gave  the  Pheasant  a  "wide  berth"  there- 
after. One  observer  reports  that  a  lady  was  feeding  Quail 
in  winter,  and  that  a  cock  Pheasant  habitually  drove  the 
Quail  away  and  ate  the  grain. 

Pheasants  do  much  good  by  destroying  insects,  and  there 
need  be  no  fear  that  these  birds  will  ever  become  numerous 
enough  throughout  the  State  to  do  great  harm.  Generally 
they  appear  to  be  unable  to  hold  their  own.  The  common 
report  is  that  "Pheasants  have  been  turned  loose  here,  but 
have  all  disappeared."  No  eatable  bird  of  the  size  of  a 
Pheasant  can  ever  increase  much  in  numbers  in  Massachusetts 
except  on  land  where  it  can  be  protected  from  all  shooters. 

SNIPE,  SANDPIPERS,  WOODCOCK,  ETC. 
Most  of  the  birds  of  this  order,  which  includes  the  Plover, 
are  known  as  shore  birds  or  marsh  birds,  and  are  seen  mainly 
in  migration  on  the  shores  of  the  sea  or  large  bodies  of  fresh 
water.  Three  species  either  are,  or  once  were,  common 
summer  residents  of  this  State,  and  all  three  go  to  fields 
or  cultivated  land  for  a  large  part  of  their  food.  One, 
the  Spotted  Sandpiper,  is  still  quite  common  ;  and  another, 
the  well-known  Woodcock,  may  again  become  so  if  it  can 
be  protected  from  excessive  shooting.  Another  still,  the 
Bartramian  Sandpiper  or  Upland  Plover,  which  was  once  a 
common  summer  resident  of  upland  fields,  has  long  been  on 
the  road  to  extermination,  and  can  now  be  saved  only  by 
enacting  and  enforcing  stringent  laws  for  its  protection  in 
those  States  where  it  breeds,  as  well  as  in  the  more  southern 
States,  where  the  birds  find  neither  rest  nor  mercy.  Most 
of  the  other  species  of  this  order,  which  once  migrated  along 
the  coast  in  countless  numbers,  are  of  economic  importance 
principally  as  food ;  but,  with  few  exceptions,  the  larger 
species  are  so  reduced  in  numbers  that  they  are  at  present 
of  little  account  in  any  economic  sense. 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  335 


Spotted  Sandpiper.     Tip-up.     Teeter. 
Actitis  macularia. 

Length.  —  About  seven  and  one-half  inches. 

Adult.  —  Above,  olive-brown,  ash-tinged;   below,  white,  spotted  with  rounded 

blackish  marks;  a  row  of  white  spots  on  the  wing;   outer  tail  feathers 

white-barred. 

Young.  —  Breast  unspotted,  with  a  slight  grayish  cast  on  white  of  breast. 
Nest.  —  On  ground,  on  the  shore  of  a  pond  or  river,  or  in  a  field  or  pasture. 
Eggs.  —  Buffy,  thickly  speckled  with  dark  brown  and  black;  very  large  for  the 

size  of  the  bird,  and  quite  pointed  at  small  end. 
Season. — April  to  September. 

The  Spotted  Sandpiper,  once  a  common  and  familiar  bird 
along  all  our  ponds  and  streams,  is  still  fairly  common  in 
suitable  localities  throughout  the  State.  It  is  not  a  gre- 
garious species,  nor  does  it  travel  much  along  the  seashore, 
and  so  it  has  largely  escaped  the  decimation  that  many 
other  Sandpipers  have  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  gunner. 
It  is  the  only  Sandpiper  commonly  found  about  inland 
waters  in  June  and  early  July.  As  it  walks  it  repeatedly 
raises  and  lowers  the  hinder  part  of  its  body  with  a  teeter- 
ing motion.  This  is  particularly  noticeable  when  the  bird 
is  alarmed,  and  uttering  its  cry  ofpeet-weei,peet-iveet.  This 
note  is  often  repeated  when  the  bird  is  startled,  and  may  be 
heard  along  the  sandy  margin  of  ponds  or  rivers  in  the  dusk 
of  evening.  Here  it  wades  in,  at  times  up  to  its  belly. 
On  occasion  it  can  swim  well,  and  sometimes  when  wounded 
and  hard  pressed  it  will  dive  deeply,  using  its  wings  and 
flying  swiftly  under  water,  like  a  Loon.  It  often  builds  its 
nest  and  rears  its  young  in  or  near  cultivated  lands,  at  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  any  water.  The  young  are  able  to 
run  about  soon  after  they  are  hatched,  and  they  wander  away 
from  the  nest,  brooded  and  cared  for  at  need  by  the  mother, 
who  is  very  solicitous  for  their  welfare.  Their  safety  lies 
in  their  protective  coloring.  They  are  fed  largely  on  insects, 
and  the  parents  in  summer  seem  to  be  very  fond  of  similar 
food,  which  they  pick  up  about  cultivated  fields.  Like  all 
other  birds  of  the  field,  this  Sandpiper  catches  grasshop- 
pers and  locusts.  Six  of  these  birds  dissected  by  Professor 
Aughey  in  Nebraska  contained  ninety-one  locusts  and  one 
hundred  and  forty-two  other  insects. 


336  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Bartramian  Sandpiper.     Upland  Plover. 
Bartramia  longicauda. 

Length.  —  Nearly  twelve  inches. 

Adult. — Upper  parts  generally  light  tawny-brown,  with  dark  or  blackish  mark- 
ings ;  outer  tail  feathers  barred  with  black  and  brown,  and  tipped  with 
white ;  inner  webs  of  larger  wing  feathers  barred  with  black  and  white ; 
breast  and  sides  buffy  or  tawny,  marked  lightly  with  blackish;  belly 
whitish. 

Nest.  —  A  mere  hollow  in  the  ground. 

Eggs.  —  Buffy  or  whitish,  speckled  with  dark  brown. 

Season.  —  May  to  September. 

This  fine,  large  Sandpiper,  commonly  called  the  Upland 
Plover,  is  a  bird  of  the  grass-field  and  pasture.  It  is  not 
often  seen  near  the  shore,  except  as  it  feeds  in  migration 
on  the  grassy  hills  of  Ipswich  and  other  coast  towns,  or  on 
Nantucket,  where  it  breeds.  It  is  a  bird  of  the  uplands, 
often  found  breeding  in  the  interior,  at  long  distances  from 
rivers  or  ponds,  and  usually  in  upland  mowing  fields.  Forty 
years  ago  it  bred  commonly  in  considerable  areas  of  the 
State,  but  now  it  is  rare  or  wanting  everywhere  in  the 
breeding  season  except  in  a  few  localities  in  some  counties. 
Its  note  is  a  melodious,  long,  rolling  whistle,  uttered  much  in 
flight.  Just  after  the  bird  alights  it  raises  its  wings  high 
over  its  back,  stretches  them,  and  then  folds  them  in  place. 

As  the  law  now  protects  this  bird  at  all  times,  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  its  numbers  will  increase,  as  it  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  birds  of  the  field.  It  is  an  indefatigable  insect 
hunter,  living  very  largely  on  such  insects  as  grass-eating 
caterpillars  and  grasshoppers. 

American  Woodcock. 
Philohela  minor. 

Length.  —  Ten  to  twelve  inches ;  bill  nearly  three  inches. 

Adult.  — Upper  parts  brown  and  russet  or  buff,  mixed  with  gray  and  marked  with 
blackish ;  back  of  head  black,  barred  with  yellowish ;  dark  line  from  eye  to 
bill ;  under  parts  pale,  warm  brown,  varying  in  intensity ;  tail  black,  tipped 
with  white ;  eye  large,  well  back  and  high  up. 

Nest.  —  On  ground  in  moist  land. 

Eggs.  —  Large,  buff-colored,  with  chocolate  and  stone-gray  spots  and  markings. 

Season.  —  March  to  November ;  rare  in  winter. 

This  favorite  game  bird  was  once  a  common  summer  resi- 
dent of  this  State,  but  is  now  becoming  rare  in  the  breeding 


BIRDS    OF  FIELD   AND    GARDEN.  337 

season.  It  feeds  in  low,  swampy  woodland,  boring  in  the 
mud  for  worms,  and  also  in  low  pastures,  where  it  destroys 
many  insects.  In  late  summer  it  often  goes  to  the  uplands, 
where  it  feeds  in  cornfields,  asparagus  fields,  fruit  gardens, 
and  pastures.  At  such  times  the  bird  may  be  seen  among 
the  currant  bushes  or  vegetables,  where  in  early  morning  it 
feeds  with  the  Robins.  When  suddenly  flushed  it  sometimes 
rises  with  a  tremulous  whistling  sound,  similar  to  that  made 
by  the  wings  of  the  Mourning  Dove.  Although  in  summer 
it  frequents  fields,  gardens,  and  pastures,  it  sometimes  for- 
sakes them  in  very  dry  weather  for  the  wooded  shores  of 
ponds  or  rivers.  The  Woodcock  evidently  feeds  much  at 
night  or  during  the  dusk  of  morning  and  evening,  when 
it  is  almost  always  active.  When  startled  in  the  daytime 
it  is  normally  sluggish,  and  rises  just  over  the  tops  of  the 
bushes  or  undergrowth,  flutters  a  short  distance,  and  alights  ; 
but  late  in  the  fall  a  strong  bird  that  has  been  hunted  and 
shot  at  will  start  up  like  a  flash  and  fly  wild  high  and  far, 
sometimes  fanning  the  air  so  rapidly  with  its  wings  that  they 
appear  as  a  mere  nebulous  haze,  like  those  of  the  Humming- 
bird in  flight.  Its  curious  flight  song  is  uttered  in  the 
breeding  season,  when  it  rises  high  in  the  dusk  of  evening, 
sending  back  a  series  of  twittering  and  whistling  sounds. 

The  Woodcock  is  hunted  throughout  its  range.  As  it 
grows  rarer  in  the  north,  gunners  and  sportsmen  follow  it 
south  in  winter.  Great  numbers  of  Woodcock  are  slaugh- 
tered there  when  all  the  birds  of  the  species  are  massed 
in  a  limited  area. 

Wilson's  Snipe. 
Gallinago  delicata. 

Length.  —  Ten  and  one-half  to  eleven  and  one-half  inches ;  bill  about  two  and 
one-half  inches. 

Adult.  —  Upper  parts  brownish-black,  varied  with  bay  and  tawny;  crown  black, 
with  a  light  central  stripe ;  upper  tail  coverts  tawny,  with  dark  bars ;  tail 
feathers  above  bright  chestnut,  with  a  black  bar  near  the  tip,  which  is 
whitish;  beneath,  white,  but  breast  and  sides  tinted  with  brown,  speckled 
and  barred  with  dusky. 

Season.  —  Spring  and  fall. 

The  Snipe  is  a  not  uncommon  migrant,  and  may  be  found 
in  favorable  localities  in  late  March  and  April,  and  again  in 


338  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


September  and  October.  It  is  not  an  upland  bird,  but 
is  seen  chiefly  in  fresh-water  meadows  and  lowlands  along 
streams.  It  is  sometimes  met  with  in  low,  moist  gardens. 
Mr.  William  Brewster  says,  in  his  "  Birds  of  the  Cambridge 
Region,"  that  during  exceptionally  wet  autumns  great  num- 
bers of  Snipe  occasionally  visit  the  truck  farms  of  Arlington 
and  Belmont,  to  feed  in  the  water-soaked  fields  of  corn,  pota- 
toes, and  other  crops.  As  they  do  not  injure  the  crops,  but 
probe  the  ground  with  their  long  bills,  in  search  of  worms 
and  lar\7se,  it  is  probable  that  they  do  considerable  good 
at  such  times.  The  Snipe  when  started  from  the  ground 
usually  goes  off  in  a  rather  low,  erratic  course,  but  when  well 
up  in  the  air  it  sometimes  makes  a  long  and  steady  flight. 
It  may  be  identified  by  its  long  bill.  It  seems  to  be  some- 
what nocturnal,  particularly  on  moonlit  nights,  when  its  note 
may  be  heard  as  it  flies  about  the  meadows  or  runs  over 
them.  Its  alarm  note  is  a  harsh  scaipe,  and  it  utters  also  a 
muffled  "bleat."  It  feeds  mainly  on  worms,  grasshoppers, 
and  other  small  forms  of  animal  life.  This  bird's  chief 
economic  value  lies  in  the  delicacy  of  its  flesh,  and  as  an 
object  of  sport  it  has  few  superiors. 


BIRDS    OF   THE  AIR.  339 


CHAPTER  IX. 

BIRDS  OF  THE  AIR. 

There  are  no  birds  that  so  well  deserve  the  designation 
"fowls  of  the  air"  as  those  that  get  their  subsistence  by  pur- 
suing flying  insects.  Eagles  and  Vultures,  Frigate  Birds, 
Albatrosses,  and  some  other  sea  birds,  are  endowed  with 
great  powers  of  flight,  but  all  must  descend  to  earth  or 
water  for  their  food  ;  but  Swallows,  Swifts,  and  Nighthawks 
win  their  sustenance  from  the  air.  They  may  be  said  to 
live  in  the  air,  as,  with  few  exceptions,  they  seldom  alight 
except  to  rest  or  to  attend  to  their  domestic  affairs. 

Unfortunately,  the  precise  character  of  the  food  that  many 
of  these  insect-eating  birds  procure  high  in  air  is  not  well 
known.  We  see  the  Swifts  and  Swallows  darting  about  at 
great  heights  on  clear  summer  days.  We  know  that  they 
must  be  catching  flying  insects  ;  but  what  insects  are  flying 
at  such  a  height,  and  why?  They  must  be  winged  imagoes. 
Have  they  finished  the  business  of  life,  and  are  they  then 
sporting  for  a  few  brief  hours  in  sunlight  before  death  over- 
takes them  ?  Are  they  migrating  on  the  wings  of  the  wind 
to  fresh  fields?  Are  they  useful,  or  injurious,  insects?  No 
one  knows. 

When  Swallows  or  Swifts  are  flying  low  their  food  can  be 
studied,  and  we  have  some  definite  information  regarding  its 
character  at  such  times.  They  are  known  to  take  many 
parasitic  Hymenoptera,  but  whether  these  insects  are  taken 
before  or  after  they  have  propagated,  whether  most  of  them 
are  mainly  beneficial,  or  injurious,  parasites,  we  have  little 
information.  Therefore,  the  effect  produced  by  this  habit 
of  these  birds  is  not  well  understood.  We  know,  however, 
that  many  injurious  insects,  such  as  flies,  gnats,  mosquitoes, 
moths,  beetles,  and  plant  lice,  when  about  to  reproduce  their 
kind,  are  captured  by  these  feathered  skimmers  of  the  air. 
We  know  that  the  Swallows  pursue  insects  all  day,  until  the 


340  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


twilight  Bats  come  out ;  that  Nighthawks  "  sweep  the  sky " 
through  the  later  hours  of  daylight ;  and  that  Whip-poor- 
wills  and  Swifts  are  sometimes  a-wing  throughout  the  night. 
So  that  whenever  insects  are  flying  there  are  birds  to  pursue 
them.  These  birds  of  tireless  pinion  cover  a  wide  territory, 
and  form  a  most  potent  check  on  insect  life. 

SWIFTS. 

The  spine-tail  Swifts  are  Swallow-like  birds  that  rarely  if 
ever  alight,  except  upon  their  nests  or  on  the  perpendicular 
sides  of  chimneys,  rocks,  hollow  trees,  or  buildings. 

Chimney  Swift. 
Chcetura  pelagica. 

Length.  —  About  five  and  one-fourth  inches. 

Adult.  —  Sooty-brown,  paling  to  gray  on  throat  and  breast;  tail  rather  short, 
spiny,  and  somewhat  cigar-shaped,  fan-shaped  when  spread ;  wings  black- 
ish, long,  narrow,  and  slightly  curved. 

Nest.  —  Of  sticks,  glued  to  the  wall  of  a  chimney,  hollow  tree,  or  barn. 

Eggs.  —  White. 

Season.  —  April  to  September. 

The  Chimney  Swallow,  as  it  is  commonly  called  in  the 
country,  is  one  of  the  common  sights  of  the  summer  twilight 
as  it  flies  twittering  above  trees  and  house  tops.  When 
building  its  nest  it  breaks  off  twigs  from  the  trees  as  it  flies, 
and  glues  them  to  the  chimney  with  its  own  saliva.  It  is  a 
most  expert  insect  catcher,  and  while  hawking  about  for  food 
for  its  young  fills  up  its  mouth  and  cheeks  with  insects, 
carrying  them  much  as  a  chipmunk  carries  corn.  It  appears 
to  be  of  a  playful  disposition.  I  saw  a  Swift  one  day  in 
Concord  apparently  amusing  itself  by  chasing  Cedar  Birds, 
that  were  fly-catching,  over  the  river.  When  a  Cedar  Bird 
flew  out  over  the  water  the  Swift  turned  and  chased  it  back 
into  the  trees  again,  often  following  so  closely  as  to  seem 
about  to  attempt  to  swallow  the  frightened  and  fleeing  bird. 

Swifts  catch  flies,  small  beetles  of  various  kinds,  flying 
ants,  bugs,  grasshoppers,  and  other  insects,  and  spiders. 
A  notion  exists  that  these  birds  introduce  bedbugs  into 
houses ;  but  so  far  as  I  know  it  has  never  been  proven  that 
there  is  any  parasite  common  to  both  human  beings  and 
birds,  with  perhaps  a  single  exception,  —  the  woodticks. 


PLATE   XXX.  —  Nighthawk. 


PLATE   XXXI. -Whip-poor-will. 


BIRDS    OF   THE   AIR.  341 


NIGHTHAWKS,  WHIP-POOR-WILLS,  ETC. 

Birds  of  this  family  are  especially  fitted  for  the  cap- 
ture of  flying  insects.  Their  beaks  are  small  and  weak,  but 
their  mouths  are  very  capacious,  their  gullets  are  large,  and 
their  stomachs  enormous.  Some  species  fly  high  over  open 
country  ;  others  live  mainly  in  the  woods.  Together  with 
the  Owls  and  Bats  they  form  a  night  police  for  the  control 
of  nocturnal  insects. 

Our  two  common  species,  the  Nighthawk  and  the  Whip- 
poor-will,  are  frequently  confounded ;  but  in  appearance, 
habits,  and  color  of  eggs  they  are  so  different  that  this  mistake 
could  not  be  made  except  by  the  most  superficial  observer. 

Nighthawk.     Bull  Bat. 

Chordeiles  virginianus , 

Length.  —  Xine  to  ten  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Above,  black,  gray,  and  tawny,  mixed  and  mottled;  wings  long 
and  narrow,  crossed  by  a  broad  white  bar  which  shows  best  in  flight ;  tail 
slightly  forked  or  notched,  all  except  the  two  middle  tail  feathers  crossed 
near  tip  with  a  white  band;  throat  with  a  broad  band  of  white;  breast 
blackish,  marked  with  gray;  other  under  parts  gray  (sometimes  tinged 
with  huffy),  barred  with  blackish. 

Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  but  duller;  throat  band  buff;  no  white  on  tail. 

Eggs.  — Laid  on  bare  ledge,  rocky  ground,  or  a  gravel  roof. 

Season.  — May  to  September. 

The  Nighthawk  is  neither  a  night  bird  nor  a  Hawk,  un- 
less it  may  be  called  a  mosquito  Hawk.  It  flies  chiefly  at 
evening,  but  is  seldom  heard  to  cry  after  dark,  and  often 
may  be  seen  flying  about  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
day,  sometimes  at  great  heights.  It  has  deposited  its  eggs 
on  gravel  roofs  in  cities  for  at  least  forty  years,  and  prob- 
ably longer.  It  may  be  seen  on  summer  afternoons  hawk- 
ing for  insects  high  over  the  city  streets.  The  usual  note 
is  a  s-k-i-r-k  or  s-c-a-i-p-e,  a  little  like  the  call  of  Wilson's 
Snipe, — rather  a  startling  squeak  when  heard  close  at  hand. 

This  is  the  only  loud  note  I  have  ever  heard  uttered  by 
this  bird,  except  the  boom  which  accompanies  its  sudden  de- 
scent through  the  air,  and  which  is  supposed  to  be  made  by 
the  wings.  The  Nighthawk  is  very  devoted  to  its  young, 
which,  like  its  eggs,  are  so  protectively  colored  that  they  are 


342  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


almost  invisible  when  seen  from  above  as  they  squat  on  their 
natal  rock.  The  mother  either  tries  to  drive  an  intruder  away 
by  approaching  him  with  open  mouth,  or  feigns  lameness  and 
so  attempts  to  entice  him  into  pursuit. 

It  is  probable  that  the  Nighthawk  is  one  of  the  most  useful 
of  all  birds.  It  ranks  next  to  the  Flicker  in  the  destruction 
of  ants,  and  it  takes  them  when  they  are  flying  and  about  to 
propagate.  Professor  Beal  estimated  that  the  stomachs  of 
eighty-seven  Xighthawks  which  he  examined  "  contained  not 
less  than  twenty  thousand  ants,  and  these  were  not  half  of 
the  insect  contents."  One  Nighthawk' s  stomach  held  remains 
of  thirty-four  May  beetles.  Great  numbers  of  grasshoppers 
are  caught  by  these  birds.  Potato  beetles,  cucumber  beetles, 
leaf  hoppers,  bugs,  and  enormous  quantities  of  gnats  and  mos- 
quitoes have  been  found  in  their  stomachs.  Nighthawks  are 
absolutely  harmless,  as  they  never  take  fruit  or  grain,  grass 
or  vegetables.  They  are  protected  by  law  at  all  times,  and 
should  never  be  shot  or  molested.  Unfortunately,  they  are 
now  rare  in  parts  of  this  Commonwealth  where  they  were 
common  years  ago. 

Whip-poor-will. 
Antrostomus  vociferus. 

Length.  —  About  ten  inches. 

Adult  Male.  —  Above,  finely  mottled  and  barred  with  black,  gray,  and  yellowish- 
brown  ;  wings  barred  with  black  and  brown,  in  general  browner  and  not  so 
dark  as  the  Nighthawk ;  throat  and  upper  breast  blackish ;  other  under 
parts  buff,  marked  with  blackish ;  a  narrow  white  band  just  below  throat, 
and  terminal  portion  of  three  outer  tail  feathers  white. 

Adult  Female.  —  Similar,  but  band  below  throat  buff,  and  tail  feathers  narrowly 
tipped  with  yellowish-white. 

Eggs. —  On  ground  in  woods;  a  creamy  white,  beautifully  marked  with  shades 
of  purple  or  lavender. 

Season.  —  May  to  September. 

In  moonlit  woods,  through  dark  and  shady  dells,  over 
wide  pastures,  and  by  the  lone  farmhouse  door  the  Whip- 
poor-will  flits  softly  through  the  silent  night.  Its  flight 
is  not  as  noiseless  as  that  of  an  Owl ;  but  the  bird  is  even 
more  mysterious  than  the  Owls  themselves.  Its  night 
flight  and  weird  but  melodious  call  have  aroused  supersti- 
tious fancies,  until  the  Whip-poor-will  has  been  accredited 
with  all  sorts  of  uncanny  attributes  ;  nevertheless,  it  is,  like 


PLATE    XXXII.  —  A  Swallow  Roost. 

Tree  Swallow. 

Cliff  Swallow.  Barn  Swallow. 

Bank  Swallow. 


BIRDS    OF    THE   AIR.  343 

the  Nighthawk,  one  of  the  most  friendly  and  useful  of  birds. 
Its  supposedly  ill-omened  cry  is  sometimes  heard  from  the 
ridgepole  or  from  the  orchard  trees.  Mr.  James  Buckham, 
in  an  interesting  article  in  "Zion's  Herald,"  calls  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  Whip-poor-will  is  often  a  doorstep  singer. 
It  sometimes  sits  on  the  broad  stone  step  before  the  farm- 
house door  and  calls  wJtipowill  repeatedly.  When  close  at 
hand  a  soft  cluck  may  be  heard  after  each  phrase.  The  bird 
may  be  distinguished  from  the  Nighthawk  by  its  shorter 
wings  and  long,  rounded  tail. 

The  Whip-poor-will  is  an  animated  insect  trap.  Its 
enormous  mouth  is  surrounded  by  long  bristles  which  form 
a  wide  fringe  about  the  yawning  cavity,  and  the  bird  flies 
rather  low  among  the  trees  and  over  the  undergrowth, 
snapping  up  nocturnal  insects  in  flight.  It  is  perhaps  the 
greatest  enemy  of  night  moths,  but  is  quite  as  destructive 
to  May  beetles  and  other  leaf-eating  beetles.  Hairy  cater- 
pillars, like  the  tent  and  tussock  caterpillars,  as  well  as  span- 
worms,  grasshoppers,  and  ants,  are  sometimes  eaten  in  large 
numbers. 

SWALLOWS. 

This  family  of  daylight  air-coursers  has  four  common 
representatives  in  this  Commonwealth.  The  Purple  Martin, 
common  until  within  a  few  years,  is  now  generally  rare 
except  in  migration.  The  illustration  of  the  Swallow  roost, 
although  taken  from  a  sketch  made  on  the  Musketaquid,  was 
nevertheless  suggested  by  Ernest  Thompson  Seton's  beauti- 
ful drawing,  now  reproduced  in  Chapman's  "Bird-Life."  It 
shows  the  four  common  Swallows,  and  exhibits  their  habit 
of  roosting  in  reeds.  Swallows  collect  in  flocks  throughout 
the  season  of  migration.  In  July,  as  soon  as  the  young  are 
reared,  they  begin  to  flock  at  night  near  bodies  of  water,  and 
prepare  to  migrate.  Swallows  gather  in  winter  in  the  great 
swamps  of  southern  Florida  in  enormous  flights,  which,  after 
uniting  in  one,  discharge  into  the  reeds  at  dusk.  The  de- 
scent of  such  a  multitude  resembles  in  appearance  a  great 
waterspout  topped  by  an  enormous  black  cloud.  In  the 
morning  they  scatter  out  over  the  country  to  feed. 


344  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Bank  Swallow. 
lliparia  riparia. 

Length.  — A.  little  over  five  inches. 

Adult.  —  Dull  mouse-brown  above;  white  below;  a  broad  brownish  band  across 

the  breast ;  tail  slightly  forked. 
Nest.  —  In  a  hole  made  by  the  bird  in  a  sand  bank. 
Eggs.— White. 
Season.  —  April  to  August  or  September. 

This  bird  nests  naturally  in  communities  in  sand  banks 
along  rivers,  where  the  insects  which  form  its  food  are  plen- 
tiful. It  early  took  advantage  of  man's  habit  of  digging  into 
the  sand,  and  probably  increased  in  numbers  as  roads  and 
railroads  were  cut  through  the  country  and  sandpits  opened. 
In  this  State  its  numbers  have  now  decreased  much,  owing 
partly  to  the  digging  away  of  many  banks  in  which  it  formerly 
bred,  but  more  to  incessant  persecution  by  egg  collectors,  cats, 
"  English  "  Sparrows,  and  other  predatory  animals.  There  are 
many  sand  banks  in  eastern  Massachusetts  formerly  occu- 
pied by  these  birds  which  now  know  them  no  more. 

The  note  is  a  rather  harsh  twitter.  This  bird  is  almost 
entirely  insectivorous,  feeding  on  gnats,  flies,  grasshoppers, 
Tortricid  moths,  and  many  insects  that  are  injurious  to  field 
and  meadow  grasses.  Plant  lice  and  spiders  also  form  a 
portion  of  its  food. 

Tree  Swallow.     White-bellied  Swallow.     White-breasted  Swallow. 
House  Swallow. 

Iridoprocne  bicolor. 
Length.  —  Nearly  six  inches. 
Adult  Male.  —  Dark  irridescent  blue-green  above;   white  below;  tail  slightly 

notched. 

Adult  Female.  —  Upper  parts  usually  duller. 

Young.  —  Upper  parts  brown ;  a  faint  dusky  collar  across  the  upper  breast. 
Nest.  — In  hollow  tree  or  bird  house. 
Eggs.  —  White. 
Season.  —  April  to  October. 

When  the  Tree  Swallows  left  their  natural  homes  in  hollow 
trees  to  nest  in  bird  houses  they  probably  increased  some- 
what in  numbers ;  but  since  the  advent  of  the  "  English " 
Sparrow  the  Tree  Swallows  have  been  driven  away  from 
many  of  the  bird  houses  in  villages  and  cities  where  they 


BIRDS    OF   THE  AIR.  345 

formerly  dwelt,  and  some  have  gone  back  to  hollow  trees. 
This  bird  is  still  common  wherever  it  can  nest  unmolested 
by  the  Sparrows,  and  sometimes,  though  rarely,  it  nests  in 
the  same  bird  house  with  these  impudent  foreigners. 

Its  note  is  a  rather  sharp  but  sometimes  musical  twitter. 
It  is  probably  more  useful  than  the  Bank  Swallow,  for  it  is 
often er  seen  about  houses  and  gardens,  where  it  catches  flies, 
mosquitoes,  and  garden  insects.  Leaf-eating  beetles,  canker- 
worms,  cabbage  butterflies,  small  moths,  click  beetles,  rove 
beetles  and  other  beetles,  winged  ants,  and  many  other  flying 
insects  form  part  of  its  food.  It  usually  leaves  for  the  south 
in  August  or  September,  but  sometimes  stays  much  later 
where  bayberries  or  sumac  berries,  upon  which  it  feeds,  are 
plentiful. 

Barn  Swallow. 

Hirundo  erythrogaster. 

Length.  —  Six  to  seven  inches,  or  a  little  more. 

Adult.  —  Above,  very  dark  blue;   tail  deeply  forked,  showing  white  markings 

when  spread ;  forehead,  throat,  and  upper  breast  chestnut ;  lower  breast 

and  belly  buff. 
Nest.  —  Built  of  mud,  straw,  and  feathers ;  usually  plastered  to  a  rafter  in  a  barn 

or  shed. 

Eggs. — White,  covered  with  brown  spots. 
Season.  —  April  to  September. 

The  note  of  the  Barn  Swallow  brings  to  mind  visions  of 
fields  of  waving  grass,  wide  barns,  and  well-filled  mows,  for 
this  Swallow  follows  the  cattle.  It  is  a  bird  of  the  pastoral 
country,  the  farm,  and  the  hayfield.  Originally  it  nested 
in  caves  or  on  rocky  cliffs.  The  rude  barns  of  the  early 
settlers  offered  it  abundant  safe  nesting  places,  while  the 
clearing  of  the  land  and  the  increase  of  cattle  augmented  the 
numbers  of  its  insect  prey.  Swallows  must  have  multiplied 
wonderfully  with  the  settlement  of  the  country,  but  they 
have  rather  decreased  of  late  years. 

The  twitter  of  this  Swallow  is  musical ;  its  flight  is  the 
poetry  and  grace  of  motion ;  its  plumage  is  attractive  to  the 
eye  ;  and  its  life  is  largely  spent  in  destroying  the  insect 
foes  of  the  farmer  and  his  cattle.  It  is  particularly  servicea- 
ble about  grass  fields.  The  moths  of  the  smaller  cutworms, 
those  of  Arctians  and  Crambids,  are  among  the  injurious  in- 
sects that  it  gleans  when  flying  low  over  the  grass.  Every 


346  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


one  who  walks  among  the  tall  grass  in  the  fields  may 
notice  how  Swallows  capture  the  moths  that  fly  up  about 
the  foot  passenger.  Prof.  C.  H.  Fernald  states  that  while 
he  and  his  friends  were  walking  through  the  grass  at  his 
home  at  Mt.  Desert  several  Swallows  invariably  attended 
them  and  fed  on  different  species  of  Crambos  in  abundance. 
These  observations  were  continued  during  several  years.1 
Codling  moths,  cankerworm  moths,  and  Tortricid  or  leaf- 
rolling  moths  are  gathered  from  the  orchard  by  the  Swallows. 
Horseflies,  house  flies,  mosquitoes,  gnats,  and  crane  flies  are 
commonly  caught.  The  only  apparently  harmful  habit  that 
I  have  observed  is  that  of  picking  up  parasitic  insects  in 
flight  over  fields  infested  with  army  worms  or  cutworms. 

Cliff  Swallow.     Eaves  Swallow. 
Petrochelidon  lunifrons. 

Length.  —  About  six  inches. 

Adult.  —  Dark  bluish  above;   forehead  cream  white  and  rump  light  chestnut; 

throat  chestnut ;  other  under  parts  whitish ;  tail  ends  squarely. 
Nest.  —  Built  mainly  of  mud,  under  the  eaves  of  bams  or  out-buildings. 
Eggs.  —  White,  spotted  with  reddish-brown. 
Season.  —  April  to  August. 

When  the  first  explorers  reached  the  Yellowstone  and 
other  western  rivers,  Swallows  were  found  breeding  on  the 
precipitous  banks.  As  settlers  gradually  worked  their  way 
westward  the  Swallows  found  nesting  places  under  the  eaves 
of  their  rough  buildings.  In  these  new  breeding  places  they 
were  better  protected  from  the  elements  and  their  enemies 
than  on  their  native  cliffs,  and  so  the  Cliff  Swallow  became 
the  "Eaves  Swallow,"  and,  following  the  settlements,  rapidly 
increased  in  numbers  and  worked  eastward.  Audubon  saw 
them  first  on  the  Ohio  in  1815.  They  were  seen  near  Lake 
Champlain  in  1817,  at  the  White  Mountains  of  New  Hamp- 
shire in  1818,  at  Cincinnati  in  1819,  and  in  1830  they  had 
reached  Winthrop  and  Gardiner,  Me.  They  increased  and 
spread  rapidly  over  the  eastern  States,  and  probably  reached 
their  maximum  in  numbers  from  1840  to  1860.  They  were 

1  Professor  Fernald  states  that  the  Crambids  feed  at  the  roots  of  grasses,  and 
that  they  undoubtedly  destroy  a  large  amount  of  grass  without  being  discovered. 
Professor  Webster  wrote  him  that  in  Ohio  hundreds  of  acres  of  grass  had  been 
destroyed  by  these  moths. 


BIRDS    OF   THE  AIR.  347 

very  numerous  in  Massachusetts  up  to  about  1865,  but  since 
the  introduction  of  the  Sparrow  their  numbers  have  been 
slowly  decreasing  here,  and  now  there  are  large  areas  where 
they  do  not  breed.  Apparently  they  are  now  more  plentiful 
than  ever  in  some  parts  of  Maine,  and  possibly  some  of  the 
Massachusetts  birds  may  have  migrated  there. 

Their  ordinary  note  is  a  rather  harsh  chirp.  Their  food 
is  very  similar  to  that  of  the  Barn  Swallow,  as  they  frequent 
similar  situations.  Wherever  a  colony  of  these  birds  is 
located  they  must  have  a  considerable  effect  on  insect  life. 
They  fly  much  over  bogs  and  meadows,  and  with  the  Barn 
Swallows  are  useful  in  destroying  the  pests  of  the  grass  lands 
and  cranberry  bogs. 

Purple   Martin.     Black   Martin. 

Progne  subis. 

Length. — About  eight  inches. 
Adult  Male.  — Deep,  lustrous  steel-blue ;  wings  and  tail  dark  brown ;  tail  slightly 

forked. 
Adult  Female.  —  Brown  above,  glossed  on  head  and  back  with  blue  or  purplish  ; 

forehead  and  throat  mottled  with  gray ;  breast  brownish ;  belly  whitish. 
Nest.  —  In  a  hollow  tree  or  bird  house. 
Eggs.  —  White. 
Season.  —  April  to  August. 

Many  years  ago  Dr.  Brewer  wrote  Audubon  that  an  un- 
usually cold  season  had  destroyed  all  the  Purple  Martins  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Boston.  Since  then  other  occurrences 
of  this  kind  have  been  re- 
ported, but  there  was  no  per- 
manent widespread  diminution 
in  their  numbers  until  the 
"English"  Sparrows  became 
numerous.  Then  the  Martins 
were  gradually  driven  away, 

Until    they    bred    Only    locally,       Fig.  149.  — Purple  Martin,  male,  about 

j     i      j  "  j .  j     /.  one-half  natural  size. 

and   had   disappeared  from  a 

large  part  of  the  State.  The  June  storms  of  1903-04 
nearly  completed  their  extirpation  from  the  State  as  breed- 
ers, and  except  in  a  few  favored  localities  their  boxes  are 
now  (1906)  all  taken  by  the  Sparrows. 

The  Martin  is  a  southern  bird,  and  cannot  long  withstand 


348 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


cold  storms  in  the  breeding  season.  It  is  also  one  of  the 
most  purely  insectivorous  of  all  birds,  and  feeds  almost  en- 
tirely on  winged  insects.  Therefore,  when  the  air  is  cleared 
of  flying  insects  by  long,  cold  rains  or  hard  frosts,  it  must 
starve.  Its  note  is  a  full-toned  chirruping  carol,  musical 
and  clear,  beginning  peuo-peuo- 
peuo.  It  feeds  largely  on  some  of 
the  greatest  pests  of  the  farm. 
Rose  beetles  and  May  beetles  are 
caught  in  large  numbers.  John  S. 
Russell  writes  that  a  quail  of  the 
wing  cases  and  other  rejecta  of  that 
common  pest,  the  striped  cucumber 
beetle,  were  taken  from  a  hole  in  a 
Martin  box ;  and  Dr.  Packard  makes  a  similar  statement. 
House  flies  and  flies  that  trouble  horses  and  cattle  are  taken 
in  considerable  numbers  from  the  sides  of  houses  and  barns. 
Mr.  Otto  Widmann  states,  in  "Forest  and  Stream,"  that 
thirty-two  parent  Martins  made  three  thousand,  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy-seven  visits  to  their  young  in  one  day, 
—  June  27,  1884. 

Every  effort  should  be  made  to  induce  these  birds  to  again 
take  up  their  abode  throughout  the  State. 


Pig.   15O.— Purple  Martin, 
female. 


BIRDS    OF  MARSH  AND    WATERSIDE. 


349 


Fig.  151.  — Salt-marsh  caterpillar.    This  species 
is  eaten  by  marsh  birds. 


CHAPTER   X. 

BIRDS  OF  MARSH  AND  WATERSIDE. 

The  birds  of  wet,  waste  lands,  fresh-water  meadows, 
marshes,  swamps,  and  the  shores  of  ponds  and  rivers  seem 
at  first  sight  to  be  of  no  importance  from  an  economic  point 

of  view.  Still,  most  of 
the  Marsh  Wrens,  Spar- 
rows, Herons, 
and  water-fowl 
that  live  in 
such  localities 
undoubtedly 

help  to  prevent  uprisings  of  such  field  pests  as  the 
army  worms,  the  green  grasshoppers,  and  the  salt- 
marsh  caterpillars,  that  sometimes  multiply  so  in 
lowlands  as  to  overrun  and  devastate  the  upland 
crops.  The  Herons  are  of  some  further  service 
to  man,  for,  besides  eating  insects,  they  help  to 
prevent  the  undue  increase  of  meadow  mice,  rep- 
tiles, and  frogs.  Space  will  not  permit  detailed 
descriptions  of  the  marsh  birds  and  water  birds, 
but  a  brief  mention  may  be  made  of  some  of  the 
most  important  species. 

PERCHING    BIRDS. 

Song  Sparrows,  Savanna  Sparrows,  Blackbirds, 
Grackles,  and  Bobolinks,  all  of  which  spend  more 
or  less  time  in  wet  meadows  and  marshes,  have 
already  been  described.  Swifts  and  Swallows 
hawk  over  meadows,  marshes,  streams,  and  ponds, 
but  the  Swamp  Song  Sparrow  or  Swamp  Sparrow 
(Melospiza  georgiana}  is  rarely  seen  faraway  from 
its  favorite  marshes  or  swamps.  It  is  a  dark  spe- 
cies, with  a  chestnut  cap,  a  whitish  throat,  and  a 


350  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


breast  unstreaked  ;  and  it  sings  all  summer  long  about  the 
bushy  margins  of  grassy  swamps  and  marshes  and  in  the 
reeds  or  bush  clumps  of  river  meadows.  Its  song  slightly 
resembles  that  of  the  Chipping  Sparrow,  but  is  more  varied 
and  pretentious.  Its  sharp  chink  and  busy  chirping  as  it 
fusses  about  its  lowly  nest  greet 
the  ears  of  the  canoeist  as  he  floats 
down  the  placid  stream. 

Another  bird  whose  song  is 
commonly  heard  along  the  shores 
of  marshy  rivers  is  the  Long- 
billed  Marsh  A\rren  (  Telmatodytes 

Pig.  153. -Swamp Sparrow, about     palustris}.        It    is   found   COm- 
two-thirds  natural  size.  mon]y    ncar    streams   along   the 

coast,  and  up  the  river  valleys  of  eastern  Massachusetts,  but 
is  not  so  common  in  the  central  or  western  counties  except 
along  the  Connecticut  River.  It  sings  among  the  reeds,  cat- 
tails, and  marsh  grasses,  a  voluble,  joyous,  typical  Wren 
song,  which  is  kept  up  all  day  and  may  often  be  heard  at 
night.  It  is  an  unmistakable  Wren,  with  cocked  tail  and 
rapid,  nervous  motions.  The  Short-billed  Marsh  Wren 
(Cistothorus  stellaris)  is  one  of  the  smallest  of  birds.  It  is 
not  as  common  as  the  other  species,  and  frequents  sedgy 
meadows  and  wet  lands  along  brooks.  Its  song  more  nearly 
resembles  that  of  a  Sparrow  than  that  of  the  typical  Wren. 
Marsh  Wrens  build  the  little  globular  nests,  each  with  an 
opening  in  the  side,  that  are  found  among  the  cat-tails  or  the 
meadow  grass. 

RAILS. 

Rails  are  confined  to  the  shores  of  ponds  and  rivers  or  to 
marshes  and  wet  meadows,  where  they  skulk  amid  the  rushes, 
cat-tails,  grasses,  and  water  plants,  and  are  more  often  heard 
than  seen.  The  old  saying,  "As  thin  as  a  rail,"  might  have 
originally  been  applied  to  these  birds,  for  their  bodies  are  so 
thin  that  they  readily  slip  between  the  stems  of  the  grasses. 
Although  no  longer  as  plentiful  as  in  the  past,  they  still 
breed  here,  and  many  pass  through  the  State  in  migration. 

The  two  common  species  are  the  Virginia  Rail  (Rallus 
virginianus)  and  the  Carolina  or  Sora  Rail  (Porzana  caro- 


BIRDS    OF  MARSH  AND    WATERSIDE.  351 

Una}.  The  Sora  is  a  dark,  handsome  bird,  nearly  as  large 
as  a  Quail.  It  has  the  forehead,  chin,  and  throat  black,  an 
ashy  breast,  and  a  short,  yellow  bill.  The  Virginia  Eail  is 
about  an  inch  longer,  having  a  long,  curved  bill  and  a  light- 
colored  throat.  Many  strange  notes  that  are  heard  on  the 
marsh  at  morning  or  evening  or  during  the  night  ma}'  be 
attributed  to  Rails.  Both  species  nest  close  to  the  ground 
in  marsh  or  meadow.  Thin  as  the  Eails  are  ordinarily,  they 
become  very  fat  in  autumn,  when  they  are  shot  in  great 
numbers  for  food. 

HERONS. 

Every  pond  or  stream  with  shallow  waters  has  its  resident 
or  visiting  Herons,  and  as  all  species  of  Herons  are  now 
protected  by  law,  it  is  hoped  that  the  decrease  of  the  larger 
species  may  be  arrested. 

Near  the  seashore  and  the  larger  bodies  of  water  a  bird 
is  sometimes  seen  to  rise  from  the  marsh,  uttering  as  it  flies 
a  loud,  explosive  quock.  It  is  larger  than  a  Crow,  has  a 
blackish  back  and  crown,  a  short  tail,  light  under  parts,  and 
grayish  wings.  It  folds  its  long  neck,  tucks  its  long  legs 
up  behind,  and  flies  off  slowly,  its  wing  tips  bending  well 
downward  at  every  stroke.  This  is  the  Black-crowned 
Night  Heron  (Nycticorax  nycticorax  ncevius),  which  flies 
chiefly  at  evening,  but  may  often  be  seen  abroad  in  the  day- 
time, particularly  on  cloudy  days.  Young  birds  are  brown 
above,  streaked  and  dotted  with  white,  but  all  have  the  same 
note.  They  usually  nest  in  communities  on  trees  in  swamps. 

There  is  hardly  a  shallow  pond  or  large  stream  in  the 
State,  remote  from  cities,  from  which  one  may  not  flush  a 
smaller,  dark-green  bird,  with  dark,  bluish  wings,  which 
rises  either  silently  or  with  a  sharp  peok,  takes  a  reef  in  its 
neck,  stows  its  legs,  and  flies  away  steadily,  keeping  at 
about  the  same  level.  The  downward  bend  to  its  wing  tips 
as  it  flies  seems  to  be  even  more  pronounced  than  in  the 
Night  Heron.  This  is  the  Green  Heron  (JButorides  vires- 
cens}.  It  has  several  peculiar,  startling  notes,  and  an  ex- 
plosive, wreird  wowoogh,  given  as  if  in  a  stage  whisper,  that  is 
sometimes  uttered  when  it  is  perched  on  a  tree.  This  species 
nests  in  trees,  often  singlv,  but  sometimes  in  companies. 


352  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


In  early  spring,  or  in  August  or  September,  a  tall,  dark, 
lone  bird  may  be  seen  stalking  by  some  pond,  along  the  sea- 
shore, or  on  tidal  flats.  It  is  far  larger  than  other  common 
Herons,  and  when  it  flies  sometimes  gives  utterance  to  harsh, 
loud  croaks,  and  spreads  a  pair  of  great  wings  that  seem  as 
large  as  those  of  the  Eagle.  This  unmistakable  bird  is  the 
Great  Blue  Heron  or  Blue  "Crane"  (as  it  is  sometimes 
wrongly  called)  (Ardea  herodias},  which  lives  largely  on 
fish,  frogs,  and  meadow  mice. 

Another  species  is  sometimes  started  from  the  grassy 
meadow  or  the  marshy  fen.  This  is  a  large  brown  bird, 
about  the  size  of  the  Night  Heron.  The  under  part  of  its 
neck  is  distinctly  streaked  with  brown  and  white,  and  there 
is  a  black  streak  on  the  side  of  the  neck.  It  is  a  skulker, 
seeking  concealment  by  preference,  and  flying  only  when 
hard  pressed.  Its  flight  is  slow  and  awkward,  and  it  usually 
does  not  fly  high  or  far,  but  alights  again  among  the  grass 
or  reeds  of  the  marsh.  Sometimes  on  rising  it  utters  sev- 
eral harsh,  rattling  croaks.  This  is  the  American  Bittern 
{Botaurus  lentiginosus) ,  —  a  bird  that  lives  in  the  bog  and 
nests  there.  It  seldom,  if  ever,  alights  in  trees.  Its  most 
common  spring  note  consists  of  a  series  of  choking,  gurgling 
sounds,  that  resemble  the  noise  made  by  an  old-fashioned 
wooden  pump,  and  may  be  represented  by  the  syllables  unk- 
a-chunk,  repeated  several  times.  This  has  given  the  bird 
the  vernacular  name  of  "plum  pud'n."  Sometimes  at  a 
distance  only  a  single  note  can  be  heard,  which  sounds  like 
the  stroke  of  a  mallet  on  a  stake.  Hence  the  name  Stake 
Driver ;  but  how  it  came  by  the  name  of  Indian  Hen  I  am 
unable  to  say.  The  Bittern  is  perhaps  the  most  useful  of  all 
the  Herons,  for  it  frequently  goes  to  low  fields  and  pastures, 
where  it  industriously  hunts  grasshoppers  and  other  Orthop- 
tera.  A  small  species,  the  Least  Bittern  (Ardetta  exilis), 
may  sometimes  be  heard  cooing  in  the  marshes,  but  is 
seldom  seen.  The  top  of  the  head,  back,  and  tail  are  black  ; 
elsewhere  the  bird  is  mainly  brown,  lighter  below.  It  often 
sits  erect,  facing  the  observer,  its  bill  pointing  upward,  and 
so  it  is  unnoticed  among  the  reeds  or  flags.  Its  habits  are 
little  known. 


BIRDS    OF  MARSH  AND    WATERSIDE.  353 


WATER-FOWL. 

We  have  no  means  of  knowing  how  many  species  of 
water-fowl  once  bred  about  the  ponds  and  rivers  of  the 
State,  but  there  are  now  but  two  important  species  that 
breed  here  in  any  numbers,  and  one  of  these,  the  Wood 
Duck  (A.ix  ftponsa')  (see  frontispiece),  is  now  rapidly  grow- 
ing rare  in  most  of  the  State.  This  bird,  of  exquisite  loveli- 
ness, was  once  the  most  common  wild-fowl  that  nested  along 
the  shores  of  our  wooded  streams  and  ponds.  It  is  now 
protected  by  statute  at  all  times  ;  but  only  the  most  rigid 
enforcement  of  the  law  can  save  this,  the  most  beautiful  of 
American  wild  ducks,  from  extermination.  It  is  not  as  shy 
as  the  Black  Duck,  and  it  frequents  small  ponds  and  wooded 
streams  that  afford  cover  to  the  gunner  and  can  be  easily  shot 
across.  The  young  are  hatched  in  a  nest  in  some  hollow 
tree  or  stump,  and  are  often  carried  to  the  water  by  the 
mother  bird.  They  are  fortunate  if  they  are  not  all  killed 
by  some  gunner  as  soon  as  they  are  big  enough  for  the  table. 
The  bird  is  harmless,  and  is  at  times  a  great  insect  eater. 
It  should  be  saved  from  the  fate  of  the  Passenger  Pigeon, 
Heath  Hen,  and  Wild  Turkey. 

The  Black  Duck  (Anas  obscura)  is  more  common,  and  has 
of  late  somewhat  increased  in  numbers,  owing,  probably,  to 
improved  and  better-enforced  laws  for  its  protection.  It  is 
not,  as  its  name  implies,  a  black  bird,  but  is  dusky,  with  a 
lighter  neck  and  throat.  The  under  sides  of  its  wings  are 
also  lighter  in  color.  It  breeds  on  the  ground,  mainly  in 
marshes  and  bogs,  or  on  islands  in  ponds,  and  is  well  dis- 
tributed in  suitable  localities  throughout  the  State.  It  is 
normally  very  destructive  to  grasshoppers,  but  in  this  State 
it  seldom  ventures  far  from  its  fastnesses  in  the  bog,  except 
as  it  goes  to  the  sea  or  large  bodies  of  water,  which  give  it  a 
good  outlook  and  some  chance  of  safety. 

The  other  pond  and  river  Ducks  and  the  Geese  are  mere 
migrants  through  Massachusetts.  The  sea  Ducks  are  not 
known  to  be  of  much  value  to  man  except  through  the 
recreation  their  pursuit  affords.  The  service  rendered  to 
man  by  sea  birds  is  referred  to  on  p.  80. 


354  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


CHAPTER   XL 

CHECKS  UPON  THE  INCREASE  OF  USEFUL  BIRDS. 

He  who  has  any  doubt  about  the  former  abundance  of  the 
larger  birds  in  Massachusetts  should  read  the  accounts  pub- 
lished by  some  of  the  earlier  voyagers  and  settlers  regarding 
the  great  numbers  of  water  birds,  shore  birds,  game  birds, 
Hawks  and  Eagles,  Great  Auks,  Cranes,  Herons,  wild  Swans, 
Canada  Geese,  Snow  Geese,  Brant  Geese,  and  Turkeys,  that 
were  found  in  the  early  years  of  the  colony.  We  read  of 
a  thousand  wild  Turkeys  reported  as  seen  in  a  day,  of  forty 
Partridges  seen  in  one  tree  and  sixty  Quail  in  another,  of 
forty  or  fifty  Ducks  killed  at  a  shot,  of  twelve  score  shore 
birds  killed  at  two  discharges  of  a  fowling  piece,  of  flocks  of 
Passenger  Pigeons  that  obscured  the  sky  to  the  horizon  in 
all  directions,  and  of  nesting  places  where  for  miles  the 
trees  were  loaded  with  Pigeons'  nests. 

It  is  now  well  known  that  the  Great  Auk  and  the  Labrador 
Duck  have  become  extinct ;  that  wild  Turkeys,  Swans,  Pas- 
senger Pigeons,  Cranes,  and  Snow  Geese  have  practically 
disappeared  from  the  State ;  and  that  the  shore  birds,  game 
birds,  and  fresh-water  Ducks  have  decreased  tremendously 
in  numbers.  Xo  records  regarding  the  increase  or  decrease 
of  the  smaller  birds  have  been  made  until  within  recent 
years,  and  we  know  only  in  a  general  way  that  certain  spe- 
cies, like  Swallows,  Sparrows,  and  Robins,  increased  with 
and  after  the  clearing  and  settling  of  the  country,  and  that 
within  the  last  half  century  there  has  been  a  considerable 
local  decrease  of  these  and  other  native  birds,  particularly 
about  the  centers  of  population.1  Also,  it  is  evident  that 
small  birds  are  not  nearly  as  plentiful  here  as  they  are  in 

1  Director  William  T.  Hornaday  of  the  New  York  Zoological  Park  estimated, 
from  reports  received  by  him,  that  birds  had  decreased  twenty-seven  per  cent,  in 
Massachusetts  during  the  fifteen  years  previous  to  1898.  The  result  of  my  own 
inquiries  regarding  the  decrease  of  birds  in  Massachusetts  was  embodied  in  a 
report  of  one  hundred  and  three  pages  made  to  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  in 


CHECKS    UPON  INCREASE    OF    USEFUL    BIRDS.      355 

some  States  farther  west,  and  that  they  are  not  numerous 
enough  to  fully  control  the  insects  on  which  they  feed. 

It  is  certainly  desirable,  then,  to  take  measures  to  increase 
the  number  of  useful  birds,  and  any  inexpensive  means  of 
accomplishing  this  end  is  worthy  the  most  careful  consider- 
ation of  thoughtful  people. 

When  one  is  asked  what  controls  the  numbers  of  birds, 
he  finds  himself  at  a  loss  for  a  ready  answer.  There  are 
many  well-understood  checks  upon  their  increase  ;  others 
are  more  obscure.  "We  can  understand,  for  example,  why 
the  larger  game  birds  and  shore  birds  have  decreased  in 
numbers  ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  see  why  the  Dickcissel  or 
Black-throated  Bunting  has  disappeared  from  the  Atlantic 
seaboard  and  is  now  seldom  found  east  of  the  Alleghanies, 
why  the  Bed-headed  Woodpecker  has  so  nearly  disappeared 
from  Massachusetts,  or  why  certain  resident  species  as  well 
as  certain  migratory  species  are  common  one  season  and 
uncommon  the  next. 

To  effectually  protect  birds  we  must  first  understand  the 
chief  causes  of  mortality  among  them.  Comparatively  few 
wild  birds  die  from  disease  or  old  age.  Most  of  them  per- 
ish from  lack  of  food,  the  severity  of  the  elements,  or  the  at- 
tacks of  their  enemies.  The  destruction  of  birds  by  storms, 
great  and  widespread  as  it  is,  probably  never  occurs  over 
regions  extensive  enough  to  utterly  exterminate  any  species. 
Their  destruction  by  starvation  and  cold  is  usually  coextensive 
onlv  with  the  area  of  severest  storm.  Under  normal  condi- 
tions the  decimated  species  usually  repopulate  the  country  in 
a  few  years.  Many  young  birds  are  killed  by  storms  in  the 
nesting  season.  Many  migrating  birds  are  blown  into  the 
sea  and  drowned.  Fortunately  for  the  birds,  they  are  ordi- 
narily enabled  by  migration  to  avoid  the  severity  of  winter ; 
but  they  are  unable  in  this  way  to  escape  the  destructive 
agencies  set  at  work  by  man  along  their  lines  of  migration. 
In  annual,  perennial,  widespread,  and  complete  bird  destruc- 
tion, man  takes  the  lead  among  all  other  forces  of  nature. 

1905;  and  as  copies  of  this  report  —  The  Decrease  of  Certain  Birds  and  its 
Causes ;  with  Suggestions  for  Bird  Protection  —  can  he  obtained  of  the  secretary 
of  the  Board  at  the  State  House,  its  conclusions  will  not  he  reiterated  here. 


356  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


THE   DESTRUCTION   OF   BIRDS   BY   MAN. 

Man  is  responsible  for  the  extinction  of  species  or  for 
their  disappearance  from  great  tracts  of  country.  He  cuts 
down  the  forest  and  drives  out  the  larger  wood  birds.  He 
destroys  the  birds  that  injure  his  crops  or  flocks.  He  intro- 
duces animals  which  destroy  birds,  and  he  shoots  birds  for 
food,  money,  or  sport.  It  is  only  since  civilized  man  reached 
this  country  that  the  Great  Auk  has  become  extinct,  and  that 
the  Passenger  Pigeon,  which  roamed  in  countless  millions 
over  a  continent,  has  been  swept  away.  It  is  since  then  that 
the  Prairie  Chicken,  once  found  in  the  east,  and  so  plentiful 
in  Kentucky  that  it  was  considered  fit  food  for  slaves  and 
swine  only,  has  been  pushed  toward  the  far  west.  The  wild 
Turkey  has  been  nearly  driven  out  of  the  Atlantic  States  by 
man.  The  White  Egret  and  the  Carolina  Parrot  have  almost 
disappeared.  The  Bartramian  Sandpiper  or  Upland  Plover, 
the  Wood  Duck,  and  the  Woodcock  must  follow  if  not  fully 
protected.  Man  exterminates  birds  for  money,  little  recking 
that  he  is  killing  the  "goose  that  lays  the  golden  egg." 

The  greatest  enemies  of  game  birds,  and,  therefore,  the 
greatest  factors  in  their  extermination,  are  the  epicures,  — 
the  people  who  buy  birds  to  eat.  The  marketmen  merely 
supply  the  existing  demand.  The  call  for  game  birds  has 
been  so  insistent  and  the  price  paid  for  them  so  remunerative 
that  marketmen  have  often  organized  to  defeat  legislation  for 
the  protection  of  game.  Observing  people  who  have  fre- 
quented the  markets  have  read  from  the  butcher's  stall  the 
story  of  the  decrease  of  game  birds.  Within  thirty  years, 
tons  of  Passenger  Pigeons  have  stood  in  barrels  in  the  Bos- 
ton market,  and  men  now  living  can  remember  when  the  east- 
ern markets  were  glutted  with  Quail  and  Prairie  Chickens. 
The  war  of  extermination  waged  on  game  birds  is  a  blot  on 
the  history  of  American  civilization.  It  is  paralleled  only 
by  the  destruction  of  birds  for  millinery  purposes,  which  has 
some  shockingly  cruel  aspects. 

Here  again  the  dealers  —  the  milliners  —  are  not  so  much 
to  blame  as  the  public,  for  the  former  cater  to  the  wants 
of  women  only  as  fashion  dictates.  In  civilization  we  still 


CHECKS    UPON  INCREASE    OF    USEFUL    BIRDS.      357 

cling  to  our  rings,  beads,  and  feathers, — the  ornaments  of 
the  savage.  Within  thirty-five  years  the  skins  of  Bluebirds, 
Scarlet  Tanagers,  and  Baltimore  Orioles  have  been  in  good 
demand  in  Massachusetts  for  hat  ornaments.  The  brutal 
savagery  which  is  characteristic  of  this  phase  of  bird  destruc- 
tion has  been  well  illustrated  in  the  extermination  of  the 
Egrets  of  the  United  States.  Twenty-five  years  ago  these 
beautiful  birds  were  abundant  in  some  southern  States ; 
stragglers  occasionally  came  north  as  far  as  Xew  England. 
They  are  shy  birds  during  most  of  the  year,  feeding  chiefly 
in  deep  swamps  and  along  lonely  water  courses.  In  the 
breeding  season  they  gather  into  heronries,  commonly  called 
"rookeries,"  where  they  build  their  nests.  Then  much  of 
their  shyness  disappears  under  the  stress  of  providing  for 
and  protecting  their  young.  Unfortunately  for  them,  their 
nuptial  plumes  are  perfect  in  the  breeding  season.  Fashion 
demanded  the  plumes.  Nesting  time  was  the  plume  hunter's 
opportunity.  There  was  little  difficulty,  then,  in  securing  the 
birds  by  shooting  them  when  they  were  sitting  on  the  nests  or 
hovering  over  their  helpless  young.  So  the  old  birds  were 
shot,  the  plumes  stripped  from  their  backs,  and  the  young 
left  to  starve  in  the  nests  or  become  the  prey  of  Hawks, 
Crows,  or  Vultures.  When  I  was  in  Florida,  in  1878,  great 
flights  of  these  birds  were  seen  along  the  lakes  and  rivers  of 
the  southern  counties.  One  heronry  was  estimated  to  con- 
tain three  million  birds.  Ten  years  later  they  were  rare 
everywhere,  and  now  they  are  practically  extirpated.  They 
have  been  pursued  along  the  coasts  of  Mexico  and  into 
Central  and  South  America.  The  search  is  extending  into 
all  countries  where  they  may  be  found.  Half-savage  Indians 
and  negroes  are  enlisted  in  the  slaughter,  supplied  with  guns 
and  ammunition,  and  sent  wherever  they  can  find  the  birds. 
The  misery  and  suffering  entailed  can  be  imagined.  Thus 
are  the  "stub"  plumes,  "aigrettes,"  and  "ospreys"  procured. 
They  are  not  manufactured,  and,  whatever  their  color  when 
sold,  they  were  originally  stripped  from  the  back,  head,  or 
neck  of  some  white  Heron  or  Egret.  The  absolute  extinc- 
tion of  these  plume-bearing  species  is  assured  unless  women 
will  stop  wearing  the  plumes.  A  similar  slaughter  took  place 


358  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


among  the  sea  birds  along  the  Atlantic  coasts.  The  birds 
were  shot  down  on  their  breeding  grounds  and  their  wings 
cut  off.  Many  human  lives  have  been  lost  by  reason  of 
this  nefarious  business.  In  1905  a  warden  employed  by  the 
National  Association  of  Audubon  Societies  to  protect  the 
birds  was  murdered  by  plume  hunters.  The  reader  may  be 
spared  further  details  of  this  barbarous  trade. 

The  number  of  birds  killed  in  the  United  States  each  year 
before  the  business  was  checked  by  law  and  public  sentiment 
cannot  be  even  estimated,  but  some  figures  can  be  given. 
A  single  local  taxidermist  handled  thirty  thousand  bird  skins 
in  one  year.  A  collector  brought  back  eleven  thousand 
skins  from  a  three  months'  trip.  About  seventy  thousand 
bird  skins  were  sent  to  New  York  from  a  small  district  on 
Long  Island  in  about  four  months.  American  bird  skins 
were  shipped  to  London  and  Paris.  We  may  judge  of  the 
demand  there  for  birds  from  the  fact  that  from  one  auction 
room  in  London  there  were  sold  in  three  months  over  four 
hundred  thousand  bird  skins  from  America  and  over  three 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  from  India.  One  New  York 
firm  had  a  contract  to  supply  forty  thousand  skins  to  a 
Paris  firm. 

In  Massachusetts  this  trade  bore  most  heavily  upon  the 
Gulls  and  Terns,  which  were  driven  out  from  many  breeding 
places  along  the  coast.  From  1870  to  1890  this  business 
was  at  its  height  in  this  country ;  and ,  as  the  market  in 
Europe  is  still  brisk,  no  doubt  some  birds  are  still  killed 
here  for  millinery  purposes,  and  some  are  still  worn  here, 
despite  the  laws  which  prohibit  any  one  from  killing  native 
birds  or  selling  or  wearing  their  feathers. 

The  danger  to  birds  multiplies  with  the  increase  of  popu- 
lation. Gunners  and  sportsmen  shoot  birds  mainly  to  sup- 
ply the  markets  or  for  recreation ;  but  many  persons  shoot 
birds,  large  or  small,  merely  for  sport  or  practice.  There 
is  a  class  of  foreigners  who  shoot  small  birds  for  sport, 
and  eat  them.  These  people  go  out  in  squads,  and  each 
man  shoots  at  every  bird  within  range,  whether  sitting  or 
flying.  The  Italians  are  tremendously  destructive  to  bird 
life.  In  southern  Europe  the  larger  birds  are  now  so  scarce 


PLATE  XXXIII.  — Nest  Robbers.     A  cause  of  the  decrease 
of  birds  in  many  localities.     (Photograph  by  A.  C.  Dike.) 


CHECKS    UPON  INCREASE    OF    USEFUL   BIRDS.      359 


that  the  people  have  taken  to  killing  the  smaller  species,  and 
the  killing  of  small  birds  is  regarded  as  sport.     An  Italian 
sportsman  will  secure  a  small  live  O\vl,  fasten  it  on  a  pole 
to  attract  the  birds,  take  his  station  near  by,  and  shoot  every 
small  bird  that  appears  ;  poachers  stretch  great  nets  in  places 
where  birds  come  to 
feed  or  drink  ;  and  thus 
the  small  birds  that  are 
reared  under  protection 
in  northern  Europe  are 
slaughtered   on  their 
migrations  in  the  south. 
The  steady  stream  of 
immigration  from  Italy 
to  America  constitutes 
a  great  menace  to  the 
smaller  birds,  as  well  as 
to  all  birds  and  all  ani- 
mals that  are  eatable. 
Unless  this  element  of 
population  is  prohibited 
from  carrying  guns,  the 
effect  of  their  inroads 
upon  bird  life  will  soon 
be  manifest  here.     Trustworthy  correspondents  state  that 
the  Italian  contract  laborers  kill  practically  all  the  birds  in 
the  neighborhood  of  their  camps.     Many  Italians  trap  birds 
by  means  of  birdlime  or  trap  cages.     Boys  with  shot  guns, 
"air  rifles,"  and  various  destructive  weapons,  shoot  at  any- 
thing that  offers  a  fair  mark.     The  improvement  in  firearms 
and  the  reduction  in  their  price  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  con- 
stant increase  in  the  number  of  people  able  to  bear  arms,  the 
augmentation  of  the  number  of  crack  shots,  and  the  acces- 
sion to  the  number  of  dogs  trained  to  hunt  birds. 

Snares  are  still  much  used,  even  where  forbidden  by 
law.  Children,  especially  boys,  destroy  the  nests  and  eggs 
of  birds,  thus  constituting  a  considerable  check  on  bird  in- 
crease. The  mania  for  collecting  birds'  eggs  is  widespread. 
Some  boys  use  the  nests  of  birds  for  targets  and  their  eggs 


Fig.  154.  — The  Italian  sportsman  and  his  decoy 
Owl.     (From  Bird-Lore.) 


360  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


for  missiles  in  the  same  spirit  in  which  such  young  savages 
murder  the  toads  about  a  pond.  Something  is  wrong  with 
a  system  of  education  under  which  such  wholesale  abuses  of 
useful  creatures  are  possible. 

There  are  many  indirect  ways  in  which  man  reduces  the 
numbers  of  birds.  Marshes  are  drained,  and  the  sustenance 
of  marsh  birds  destroyed.  Reservoirs  are  made,  and  the 
haunts  of  land  birds  overflowed.  The  building  of  dams  for 
manufacturing  purposes  holds  back  the  waters  of  rivers,  so 
that  heavy  rainfalls  in  the  breeding  season  flood  the  nests  of 
many  marsh  birds,  destroying  eggs  and  young.  Thus  Eails, 
Bitterns,  and  Marsh  Wrens  are  drowned  or  driven  away. 
Thousands  of  birds  and  their  nests  are  burned  by  fires  in 
the  woods.  Swifts  are  sometimes  suffocated  in  numbers  by 
coal  tires  built  in  nesting  time.  Lighthouses  and  electric 
light  towers  are  the  obstacles  on  which  many  birds  are 
dashed  to  death  in  their  nocturnal  migrations.  Telegraph, 
electric  light,  trolley  car,  and  telephone  wires  are  all 
deadly  ;  their  number  is  constantly  increasing.  Thousands 
of  Woodcocks  and  many  other  birds  are  killed  by  flying 
against  them.  Wire  fences  are  nearly  as  fatal  to  Grouse 
and  other  low-flying  birds. 

Last  b'ut  perhaps  not  least  among  the  causes  which  de- 
crease the  number  of  birds  about  the  centers  of  population 
there  must  be  enumerated  the  clearing  up  of  underbrush, 
shrubbery,  vines,  and  thickets.  Many  birds  of  the  tangle 
are  driven  out  when  this  cover  is  destroyed  and  replaced  by 
well-kept  lawns  and  fields.  The  work  against  the  gipsy 
moth  and  the  brown-tail  moth,  necessary  as  it  is,  has  reduced 
the  number  of  birds  in  many  localities  because  of  the  clear- 
ing up  and  burning  of  undergrowth  and  the  thinning  out  of 
trees,  which  had  to  be  done.  Where  the  caterpillars  of 
these  moths  have  defoliated  large  tracts  of  wooded  country 
this  also  has  decreased  the  birds,  for  it  has  left  their  nests 
exposed  to  the  sun  and  to  their  enemies.  Several  corre- 
spondents have  expressed  the  opinion  that  birds  are  killed  by 
the  use  of  arsenical  insecticides,  such  as  Paris  green  and  arse- 
nate  of  lead,  in  spraying.  Dead  birds  have  been  picked  up  in 
different  localities  soon  after  orchard  or  shade  trees  have  been 


CHECKS    UPON  INCREASE    OF    USEFUL    BIRDS.      361 


sprayed.  Mr.  Robert  Ridgway  noticed  that  birds  decreased 
very  much  in  numbers  in  a  section  of  Illinois  where  practi- 
cally all  the  farmers  began  spraying  their  orchards  ;  but  in  a 
recent  letter  he  expresses  some  doubt  as  to  whether  spraying, 
or  a  bounty  crusade  against  the  Sparrows,  caused  the  dimi- 
nution of  birds.  The  reduction  of  birds  in  such  cases  may 
perhaps  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  insects  had  been 
destroyed  by  spraying,  leaving  the  birds  without  food.  Mr. 
William  Brewster  has  observed  two  instances  where  the 
spraying  of  shade  trees  caused  a  sudden  decrease  in  the 
numbers  of  birds,  and  in  both  cases  several  dead  birds  were 
found.  The  stomachs  of  some  of  these  birds  are  to  be  ex- 
amined for  traces  of  arsenic,  and  this  ought  to  determine 
whether  they  have  been  poisoned.  Birds  usuallv  reject 
sickly  insects,  and  would  not  be  likely  to  eat  those  which 
showed  the  effects  of  poison  ;  but  gipsy  caterpillars  will 
carry  more  poison  in  proportion  to  their  size  than  would 
kill  a  man,  and  they  will  still  appear  healthy.  It  has  been 
noticed  in  some  cases  that  birds  have  avoided  trees  that 
have  been  sprayed  with  arsenate  of  lead,  but  in  other  cases 
they  have  not.  This  subject  should  be  further  investigated. 

THE    NATURAL    ENEMIES    OF   BIRDS. 

Under  nature,  the  indigenous  natural  enemies  of  birds 
cannot  be  regarded  as  the  cause  of  any  material  reduction  in 
the  numbers  of  the  smaller  species.  Under  man's  rule,  how- 
ever, the  conditions  may  be  so  changed  that  certain  natural 
enemies  of  birds  may  become  positively  harmful.  For  this 
reason,  if  for  no  other,  the  bird  protectionist  should  care- 
fully study  the  eifect  produced  upon  birds  by  their  enemies. 
Any  natural  enemy  of  birds  which  becomes  unduly  numer- 
ous may  prove  seriously  restrictive  to  their  increase,  and 
may  require  severe  checking. 

Foreign  species  introduced  and  liberated  in  a  new  country 
may  constitute  a  serious  danger  to  bird  life.  Still,  many 
people  have  deliberately  introduced  mammals  and  birds  from 
other  countries  and  liberated  them  here.  Fortunately,  per- 
haps, few  of  these  attempts  to  saddle  foreign  species  upon 
us  have  proved  successful.  There  can  be  but  little  objection 


362  USEFUL   BIRDS. 

to  the  introduction  of  domesticated  species  so  long  as  they 
can  be  kept  in  subjection  ;  neither  can  there  be  much  danger 
in  introducing  game  birds,  except  that  they  may  replace  our 
native  species,  which,  rather,  we  should  try  to  foster  and 
increase  in  numbers ;  but  there  is  often  a  possibility  that 
any  introduced  bird  or  mammal  that  will  bring  no  money  to 
the  pocket  of  the  hunter  or  marketman  may  become  a  pest. 
We  have  had  such  an  experience  with  the  "  English  "  Spar- 
row, and  we  may  yet  regret  the  more  recent  importation  of 
the  European  Starling.  The  plague  of  rabbits  in  Australia 
and  that  of  the  mongoose  in  the  Island  of  Jamaica  illustrate 
the  danger  of  introducing  species. 

If  the  money,  time,  and  thought  that  have  been  expended 
in  this  work  by  acclimatization  societies  and  by  individuals 
could  have  been  utilized  in  protecting,  domesticating,  and 
propagating  useful  native  species,  it  might  have  given  better 
results. 

INTRODUCED   FOUR-FOOTED    ENEMIES. 
Cats. 

We  have  already  introduced  into  this  country  a  terrible 
scourge  to  birds,  —  the  domestic  cat.  My  statement  hereto- 
fore published,  that  the  mature  cat  in  good  hunting  grounds 
kills,  on  the  average,  fifty  birds  a  year,  is  certainly  within 
bounds.  Kittens  and  half-grown  cats  do  not  catch  many 
birds,  but  the  old  cat  that  wanders  off  into  the  fields  and 
woods  is  terribly  destructive.  Of  course  where  there  are 
many  cats  each  one  cannot  kill  so  many  birds,  for  there  are 
not  enough  birds  to  furnish  each  cat  its  full  quota.  Mr. 
William  Brewster  tells  of  an  acquaintance  in  Maine  who  said 
that  his  cat  killed  about  fifty  birds  a  year.  When  asked 
why  he  did  not  get  another  cat,  he  said  that  it  would  be  of 
no  use,  for  they  were  all  alike.  Mr.  A.  C.  Dike  writes  that 
his  family  owned  a  cat  which  was  well  cared  for  and  a  par- 
ticular pet.  They  watched  it  through  one  season,  and  found 
that  it  killed  fifty-eight  birds,  including  the  young  in  five 
nests.  Nearly  a  hundred  correspondents  scattered  through 
all  the  counties  of  the  State  report  the  cat  as  one  of  the 
greatest  enemies  of  birds.  The  reports  that  have  come  in 
of  the  torturing  and  killing  of  birds  by  cats  are  absolutely 


PLATE  XXXV.  — Cat  with  Young  Robin.     This  pet  cat  killed  fifty-eight  birds 
in  one  year.     (Photograph,  from  life,  by  A.  C.  Dike.) 


CHECKS    UPON  INCREASE    OF    USEFUL   BIRDS.      363 

sickening.  The  number  of  birds  killed  by  them  in  this  State 
is  appalling. 

It  is  quite  true,  however,  that  some  cats  do  not  kill  many 
birds,  and  that  some  intelligent  or  high-bred  cats  may  be 
taught  not  to  kill  anv.  Some  cat  lovers  believe  that  each 
cat  kills  on  the  average  not  more  than  ten  birds  a  year; 
but  I  have  learned  of  two  instances  where  more  than  that 
number  were  killed  in  a  single  da}',  and  another  where  seven 
were  killed.  If  we  assume,  however,  that  the  average  cat 
on  the  farm  kills  but  ten  birds  a  year,  and  that  there  is  one 
cat  to  each  farm  in  Massachusetts,  we  have,  in  round  num- 
bers, seventy  thousand  cats  killing  seven  hundred  thousand 
birds  annually.1 

If  we  add  to  the  cats  kept  on  farms  the  enormous  number 
of  village  and  city  cats,  many  of  which  have  good  oppor- 
tunities for  catching  birds,  we  shall  see  the  chief  reason  for 
great  mortality  to  birds  and  their  young  about  our  villages 
and  cities.  If  cats  are  allowed  their  liberty  at  night  during 
the  nesting  season,  they,  unnoticed,  rob  many  birds'  nests. 
The  cat  is  more  dangerous  to  birds  than  is  any  native  mam- 
mal that  roams  our  woods,  for  it  is  nocturnal,  a  splendid 
climber,  a  good  stalker,  a  strong  leaper,  and  is  very  quick 
and  active.  Unfortunately,  the  cat  is  only  half  domesti- 
cated, and  easily  goes  back  to  a  wild  state.  If  the  dog 
loses  its  master  it  will  soon  find  another,  but  the  mature 
cat  is  more  likely  to  run  wild.  Thousands  of  these  wild 
or  half- wild  cats  roam  the  country,  destroying  game  birds, 
squirrels,  field  mice,  chickens,  and  any  animal  they  can 
master.  The  effect  produced  by  cats  is  convincingly  shown 
where  they  have  been  introduced  on  islands,  and  have  nearly 
exterminated  rabbits  and  greatly  decreased  the  numbers  of 
birds.  John  Burroughs  says  that  cats  probably  destroy  more 
birds  than  all  other  animals  combined.  William  Dutcher, 
president  of  the  National  Association  of  Audubon  Societies, 
considers  the  wild  house  cat  one  of  the  greatest  causes  of 
bird  destruction  known.  He  says  that  the  boy  with  the  air 
gun  is  not  in  the  same  class  with  the  cat. 

1  Probably  there  are  some  farms  on  which  no  cats  are  kept,  but  on  one  farm 
in  "Worcester  County  thirteen  are  quartered  and  on  another  sixteen. 


364  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


Possibly  no  individual  cat  can  kill  as  many  birds  in  a 
season  as  a  single  Cooper's  Hawk,  but  there  are  probably  a 
hundred  cats  in  the  State  to  each  bird  Hawk.  A  friend  who 
was  raising  Pheasants  near  a  village  was  obliged  to  kill  more 
than  two  hundred  cats  in  a  few  years.  Another  Pheasant 
raiser,  far  from  any  village,  found  it  necessary  to  kill  about 
two  hundred  wandering  cats  the  first  year.  He  was  troubled 
by  Hawks  also,  but  the  number  seen  and  killed  was  com- 
paratively small.  Such  evidence  goes  to  show  that  the  cat 
is  particularly  attracted  by  young  birds.  Dogs  are  less 
destructive  than  cats,  but  they  kill  some  birds,  and  eat 
some  birds'  eggs. 

NATIVE    FOUR-FOOTED    ENEMIES. 

There  is  something  to  be  said  against  the  fox,  raccoon, 
mink,  skunk,  and  weasel  as  enemies  of  birds,  but  none  of 
these  animals  do  much  harm  unless  they  are  unusually  abun- 
dant. In  that  case  any  one  of  them  may  become  pernicious. 
This  is  most  true  of  the  fox  and  the  weasel  and  least  true 
of  the  skunk,  which  is  a  great  insect  killer.  Nevertheless, 
the  fox  and  the  weasel  kill  many  mice  and  other  small  mam- 
mals, and  so  are  of  some  service  to  the  farmer.  The  relation 
of  squirrels  to  birds  is  more  important. 

Squirrels. 

Some  individual  squirrels  are  habitual  nest  robbers.  This 
includes  all  species,  but  the  red  squirrel  is  the  worst  cul- 
prit. Where  squirrels  have  the  nest-robbing  habit  they 
may  do  'more  harm  among  birds  than  any  other  mammal 
except  the  cat.  They  are  active,  can  climb  to  almost  any 
bird's  nest,  and  can  defend  themselves  when  attacked  by  the 
parent  birds.  Red  squirrels  and  gray  squirrels  will  rob 
nests  either  on  the  ground  or  in  trees,  taking  eggs  or  young 
as  they  find  them.  The  chipmunk  usually  molests  only  those 
nests  that  are  on  or  near  the  ground. 

The  squirrels  about  my  home  in  Wareham  have  this  habit 
to  some  extent.  It  may  have  been  acquired,  but  in  one 
case,  at  least,  it  seems  to  have  been  inherited  or  instinc- 
tive. Some  young  red  squirrels  were  taken  from  the  nest 


CHECKS    UPON  INCREASE    OF    USEFUL   BIRDS.      365 

before  their  eves  were  opened,  and  while  they  were  still 
taking  their  mother's  railk,  and  could  never  have  tasted 
birds  or  eggs.  They  were  afterwards  given  to  Mr.  C.  Allan 
Lyford,  and  reared  in  a  cage  at  Worcester.  One  day,  when 
they  were  well  grown,  one  was  given  its  liberty.  The  first 
thing  it  did  was  to  climb  an  apple  tree,  go  to  a  Robin's 
nest,  and  begin  eating  out  the  brains  of  a  young  bird.  How- 
ever, its  eagerness  for  fresh  meat  may  have  been  caused  by 
a  lack  of  animal  food  in  its  cage  diet.  This  habit  of  killing 
young  birds  has  been  reported  from  several  counties  in  the 
State,  and  must  be  widespread.  Squirrels  are  quite  car- 
nivorous. When  meat  is  put  up  on  trees  for  birds,  squirrels 
frequently  come  and  eat  it ;  also,  they  are  destructive  to 
apples,  pears,  cherries,  strawberries,  and  sometimes  even  to 
grapes,  and  they  dig  up  seed  corn  in  planting  time  ;  but 
they  have  two  good  habits,  —  they  plant  trees  and  they  eat 
insects.  Once  in  summer,  when  there  were  no  nuts,  acorns, 
or  buds  for  squirrels  to  eat,  I  saw  a  gray  squirrel  in  the 
woods  go  over  a  black  oak  about  fifty  feet  in  height,  search- 
ing systematically,  branch  by  branch,  with  its  nose  close  to 
the  bark,  and  apparently  catching  about  all  the  insects  rest- 
ing there.  It  went  to  a  brown-tail  moth  web,  and  spent  some 
time  there.  I  distinctly  saw  one  caterpillar  in  its  mouth. 
The  tree  had  been  considerably  infested  by  leaf  hoppers  and 
caterpillars.  As  it  had  a  small  top,  and  could  easily  be  ex- 
amined, I  climbed  and  inspected  it  after  the  squirrel  had 
gone.  My  search  occupied  about  half  an  hour.  The  smooth, 
clean  bark  formed  a  dark,  glossy  background,  on  which  in- 
sects could  plainly  be  seen,  and  the  foliage  was  thin,  and 
not  hard  to  examine ;  but  I  could  find  only  about  a  dozen 
insects,  and  no  brown-tail  caterpillars.  Since  then  I  have 
observed  other  similar  cases.  It  is  not  so  widely  known  that 
squirrels  eat  insects  as  that  they  rob  birds'  nests.  Possibly 
their  virtues  may  balance  their  faults  ;  but  we  shall  never  be 
able  to  determine  their  economic  position  until  a  thorough 
study  of  their  food  habits  can  be  made. 


366  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


Rats  and  Mice. 

Rats  and  mice  kill  some  birds.  Probably  the  tree-climbing 
white-footed  or  deer  mouse  is  one  of  the  greatest  enemies 
that  birds  have  among  these  smaller  rodents,  but  under 
natural  conditions  it  is  held  in  check  by  Owls. 

FEATHERED   ENEMIES. 

Eagles  are  growing  rare,  and  the  more  common  Bald 
Eagle  feeds  mainly  on  fish,  hence  it  need  not  be  reckoned 
among  the  enemies  of  birds,  although  it  may  kill  a  few  crip- 
pled Ducks. 

Hawks. 

A  very  few  species  of  Hawks  are  probably  the  most  destruc- 
tive native  natural  enemies  of  birds.  All  other  Hawks  kill 
comparatively  few.  The  Falcons,  which  are  represented 
here  by  three  species,  the  Sparrow  Hawk  (Falco  sparverius), 
the  Pigeon  Hawk  (Falco  columbarius) ,  and  the  Duck  Hawk 
(Falco  peregrinus  anatum),  are  pernicious.  None  of  these, 
however,  are  very  common  in  the  State,  and  for  this  reason, 
mainly,  their  depredations  are  not  to  be  compared  with  those 
of  the  bird-killing  Hawks.  The  Sparrow  Hawk,  a  great  in- 
sect killer,  kills  fewer  birds  than  either  of  the  others,  and  is 
regarded  as  a  friend  to  the  farmer.  The  other  two  Falcons 
are  uncommon  or  rare,  and  therefore  kill  few  birds  in  this 
State ;  but  there  are  three  species  of  pernicious  Hawks : 
the  American  Goshawk  (Accipiter  atricapillus} ,  the  Cooper's 
Hawk  or  "  Partridge  Hawk "  (Accipiter  cooperii} ,  and  the 
Sharp-shinned  Hawk  or  "Chicken  Hawk"  (Accipiter  velox}. 
The  Goshawk  is  an  uncommon  or  periodical  winter  visitant, 
but  the  other  two  are  fairly  common,  and  individually  are 
probably  the  most  destructive  of  all  the  natural  enemies  of 
birds.  They  are  slaty  or  bluish  above,  with  rather  short, 
rounded  wings,  and  long  tails.  When  flying  at  any  heignt 
they  progress  by  alternate  periods  of  flapping  and  soaring. 
They  may  be  known  by  their  shape  and  by  their  manner 
of  flight. 

The  Buzzards,  or  Hen  Hawks,  so  called,  get  comparatively 
few  birds,  but  some  individuals  kill  poultry.  The  Red- 


PLATE   XXXVI.  —  Barred  Owl.     (Photograph,  from  life,  by  C.  A. 
Reed.)     (From  American  Ornithology.) 


CHECKS    UPON  INCREASE    OF    USEFUL   BIRDS.      367 

shouldered  Hawk  (Buteo  lineatus)  is  the  most  common  and 
also  the  most  useful.  This  species  feeds  largely  on  meadow 
mice.  All  the  Buzzards  are  very  destructive  to  field  mice 
or  other  small  rodents,  and  on  the  whole  may  be  regarded  as 
useful  to  the  farmer.  These  are  the  large  Hawks,  with  long, 
broad  wings,  that  are  often  seen  soaring  in  circles. 

The  Marsh  Hawk  or  Bog  Hawk  (Circus  hudsonius),  a 
long,  slender  bird,  the  male  of  which  is  very  light  in  color, 
and  the  female  brown  with  a  white  rump,  is  often  seen 
flying  low  over  the  meadows.  This  bird  also  is  a  great 
destroyer  of  meadow  mice,  and  is  in  general  very  useful. 

Owls. 

All  the  Owls  kill  birds,  but  most  species  kill  but  few, 
and  live  mainly  on  mammals,  particularly  rodents  like  mice, 
rabbits,  and  hares,  on  the  increase  of  which  they  constitute 
an  effectual  check.  The  Snowjr  Owl  (Hi/ctea  nyctea}  and 
the  Hawk  Owl  (Surnia  ulnla  caparoch)  are  rather  rare 
winter  visitors ;  but  the  Great  Horned  Owl  (Bubo  virgini- 
anus),  our  largest  resident  species,  is  a  great  feeder  on 
skunks,  "cotton-tail"  rabbits,  and  mice,  although  it  also 
kills  some  game  birds  and  small  birds.  This  is  the  Owl 
that  hoots  in  the  winter  woods,  Hod'  hoo  hoo,  Hod'  hoo  hoo, 
Wlioo'.  It  is  often  called  the  Cat  Owl,  because  of  its  long 
ear  tufts  ;  or  the  Hoot  Owl,  because  of  its  lugubrious  cries. 

The  Barred  Owl  (Syrnium,  variuvn)  is  another  large  Owl 
that  hoots  lugubriously,  but  its  call  usually  ends  with  a  hol- 
low hoo'aiv,  given  with  a  falling  inflection.  It  has  a  large, 
round  head,  without  ear  tufts,  and  is  barred  with  brown  across 
its  whitish  breast.  This  bird  is  also  a  mouse  eater,  but,  like 
the  Great  Horned  Owl,  it  kills  some  poultry  and  game. 

The  Short-eared  Owl  (Asio  accipitrinus}  is  a  medium-sized 
Owl,  light  yellowish-brown  in  color,  streaked  with  blackish 
above  and  colored  plain  buff  below.  It  lives  much  about 
meadows  and  marshes,  where  it  hawks  around  in  the  dusk 
as  the  Marsh  Hawk  does  by  day,  quietly  picking  up  mice. 
It  seems  to  be  a  very  silent  bird,  and  its  long  wings  carry 
it  about  in  soundless  flight,  to  the  undoing  of  its  prey. 
At  times  it  kills  a  good  many  small  Sparrows  on  the  marsh. 


368  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


The  American  Long-eared  Owl  (Asio  wilsonianus}  is  a 
bird  of  similar  size  and  shape,  but  with  a  trifle  larger  head, 
and  very  long  ear  tufts  rising  from  near  the  middle  of  it. 
It  is  dark  brown  above  and  light  below.  This  is  a  long- 
winged  bird  of  the  woods,  a  night  hunter,  hiding  in  thick 
foliage  of  coniferous  trees  by  day.  It  is  a  great  killer  of 
wood  mice  and  nocturnal  insects,  and  kills  a  few  birds. 

The  Screech  Owl  (Megascops  asio},  the  smallest  of  the 
eared  Owls,  is  hardly  as  large  as  a  Quail.  It  has  two  color 
phases  that  are  not  attributable  to  age  or  sex,  some  indi- 
viduals being  reddish  in  color,  while  others  are  gray.  Its 
wailing  cries  are  frequently  heard  about  orchards  in  towns 
and  villages,  as  well  as  in  the  woods,  and  it  commonly  nests 
in  hollow  orchard  trees.  This  is  one  of  the  most  useful  of 
all  Owls.  It  is  very  destructive  to  moths,  caterpillars,  and 
beetles,  as  well  as  wood  mice  and  field  mice.  In  winter  it 
enters  barns  and  sheds,  where  it  kills  mice,  and  sometimes 
when  driven  by  hunger  it  kills  and  eats  Doves.  During 
the  breeding  season  it  kills  some  small  birds,  particularly 
if  mice  are  not  plentiful  enough  to  furnish  an  abundance  of 
food  for  its  young. 

The  Saw-whet  or  Acadian  Owl  (Nyctala  acadica)  is  a 
little  brown  Owl,  with  no  eartufts.  It  is  the  smallest  of  all 
the  native  species  of  Massachusetts.  It  is  rather  uncom- 
mon, but  very  useful,  as  it  feeds  mainly  on  mice  and  insects 
and  rather  rarely  on  birds. 

The  Barn  Owl,  perhaps  the  most  useful  of  the  family,  is 
rare  here. 

On  the  whole,  while  Owls  must  be  ranked  among  the  ene- 
mies of  small  birds,  they  usually  do  so  much  more  good  than 
they  do  harm  that  only  under  exceptional  conditions  can  they 
be  regarded  as  injurious,  although  the  Horned  Owl  is  com- 
monly considered  pernicious  because  of  its  destruction  of 
game. 

Crows  and  Jays. 

The  Crows,  Jays,  and  Magpies  have  acquired  a  world-wide 
reputation  as  nest  robbers.  The  common  Crow  and  the  Blue 
Jay  manage  to  live  up  to  their  reputation.  My  report  on 
the  Crow  and  some  additional  notes  on  the  destructiveness 


PLATE  XXXVII.  — Blue  Jay's  Nest  in  Author's  Grove.    (Photo- 
graph, from  life,  by  C.  A.  Reed.)    (From  American  Ornithology.) 


CHECKS    UPON  INCREASE    OF    USEFUL    BIRDS.      369 

of  both  Crow  and  Jay  have  been  published  elsewhere.1  The 
American  Crow  (  Corvus  americanus)  is  a  most  deadly  enemy 
to  birds  from  the  size  of  the  Chipping  Sparrow  to  that  of  the 
Night  Heron,  Ruffed  Grouse,  and  Black  Duck,  for  it  contin- 
ually steals  the  eggs  and  young  of  such  birds  and  poultry. 
The  evidence  on  this  point  is  so  con- 
vincing and  voluminous  that  it  is 
impossible  to  avoid  this  conclu- 
sion, although  it  is  quite  prob- 
able that  only  certain 
individual  Crows  are 
the  criminals.  Crows 
not  only  destroy  eggs  and 
young  birds,  but  they  have 
been  known  to  band  together 
to  hunt  down  and  kill  adult  birds 
as  large  as  the  Ruffed  Grouse. 
The  well-known  Blue  Jay 
(Cyanocitta  cristata)  is  destructive 
to  the  eggs  of  the  smaller  birds, 
whose  nests  it  robs  systematically, 
and  it  has  frequently  been  seen  to 
kill  the  young.  The  Robin  and  other 
laro-er  birds  will  drive  the  Jay  awav  Fig.  155. -Blue  Jay,  one- 

*-  .  "  half  natural  size. 

from  their  nests,  but  it  often  succeeds 

in  robbing  them  by  stealth.  Vireos,  Warblers,  and  Spar- 
rows it  regards  very  little,  and  plunders  their  nests  without 
noticing  their  agonized  cries.  Jays  and  Crows  together 
sometimes  make  it  very  difficult  for  other  birds  to  raise  any 
young.  It  would  not  be  advisable  to  exterminate  the  Crow, 
for  it  has  many  useful  habits ;  but  it  should  not  be  allowed 
to  increase  at  the  expense  of  the  smaller  birds.  Crows  are 
valuable  as  grasshopper  killers,  and  they  are  destructive  to 
the  gipsy  moth.  Jays  eat  the  eggs  of  the  tent  caterpillar 
moth,  and  the  larva1  of  the  gipsy  moth  and  other  hairy  cater- 

1  See  The  Crow  in  Massachusetts,  Annual  Report  of  the  Massachusetts  State 
Board  of  Agriculture,  18%,  pp.  285-289;  Two  Years  with  the  Birds  on  a  Farm, 
Ibid.,  1902,  pp.  147-149;  and  The  Decrease  of  Certain  Birds,  Ibid.,  1904,  pp.  498- 
502. 


370  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


pillars.  Mr.  S.  Waldo  Bailey  informs  me  that  Blue  Jays 
tear  open  the  winter  webs  of  the  brown-tail  moth  and  eat 
the  young  larvae. 

The  House  Sparrow. 

The  House  or  "  English  "  Sparrow  (Passer  domesticus)  is 
the  only  one  of  the  smaller  birds  that  has  repeatedly  been 
seen  to  destroy  the  nests  of  other  birds,  break  their  eggs, 
kill  their  young,  mob  them,  and  drive  them  away  from 
their  homes.  It  occupies  the  houses  of  Bluebirds,  Martins, 
Swallows,  and  Wrens,  and  the  nests  of  Barn  Swallows, 
Cliff  Swallows,  and  Bank  Swallows,  and,  by  persistency  and 
force  of  numbers,  drives  the  owners  away.  All  careful  ob- 
servers who  have  watched  the  Sparrow  ever  since  its  intro- 
duction, and  have  noted  the  effect  produced  upon  other 
birds  by  its  presence,  agree  that  it  is  pernicious. 

Being  a  small  bird,  it  necessarily  eats  many  insects  ;  but  it 
lives  more  on  grain  and  less  on  insects  than  any  of  the  native 
birds  that  it  supplants,  and  is  one  of  the  few  species  that 
deserves  no  consideration  at  the  hands  of  the  farmer. 

Shrikes. 

The  Shrikes  or  Butcher  Birds  are  regarded  as  beneficial ; 
but  our  winter  visitor,  the  Northern  Shrike  (Lanius  bore- 
alis*),  kills  many  small  birds.  It  pursues  Tree  Sparrows, 
Juncos,  Song  Sparrows,  and 
Chickadees,  overtakes  and 
strikes  them  while  they  are  in 
flight,  sometimes  eating  them, 
but  oftener  leaving  them  to  hang 
on  trees,  where  they  furnish  food 
for  other  birds.  When  one  sees 
the  little  Butcher  killing  Chick- 
adees and  hanging  them  up,  his 

Pig.  156.  — Northern  Shrike,  one-half     faith  in  its  Usefulness  receives  a 

natural  size.  great  shock>     Shrikes  are  prob- 

ably of  less  value  here  than  in  their  northern  homes,  where 
in  summer  they  feed  much  on  insects.  Their  chief  utility 
while  here  consists  in  their  mouse-hunting  proclivities. 


CHECKS    UPON  INCREASE    OF    USEFUL    BIRDS.     371 


Other  Bird  Enemies. 

Some  Gulls  and  the  larger  Grackles  or  Crow  Blackbirds 
are  accused,  with  some  justice,  of  nest  robbing.  There 
seems  to  be  little  satisfactory  evidence  against  the  Cuckoos, 
except  the  general  aversion  shown  toward  them  by  other 
birds. 

Probably  individuals  of  many  species  occasionally  eat  the 
eggs  of  other  birds  or  molest  their  nests,  as  do  the  Wrens. 
Since  we  have  acquitted  the  Catbird  of  the  charge  of  robbing 
birds'  nests,  it  is  only  fair  to  state  that  John  Burroughs  writes 
that  he  saw  a  Catbird  in  the  act.  Still,  we  cannot  conclude 
that  this  is  a  common  habit  with  the  Catbird  ;  it  is  probably 
exceptional,  as  with  the  Oriole.  While  all  the  smaller  birds 
have  their  quarrels,  it  is  not  probable  that  many  of  them 
seriously  molest  other  species. 

REPTILIAN    ENEMIES. 

All  the  common  snakes,  except,  perhaps,  the  little  green 
snake,  eat  birds  and  eggs.  Birds  exhibit  great  dread  of 
snakes,  but  the  Brown  Thrasher  or  the  Catbird  will  attack 
them  bravely  in  defence  of  their  young.  Some  birds  seem 
to  be  incapacitated  by  terror  when  a  snake  appears  at  the 
nest,  and  are  rendered  incapable  of  any  effectual  defence. 
The  common  black  snake  is  the  greatest  enemy  the  birds 
have  among  native  Ophidians,  for  it  climbs  trees  with  the 
greatest  ease,  and  is  so  swift  that  it  is  able  to  catch  young 
birds  when  they  first  leave  the  nest ;  and  sometimes  it  strikes 
down  an  anxious  parent. 

FISH. 

Large  trout,  bass,  pickerel,  or  pike  occasionally  catch  young 
birds  that  fall  into  the  water,  and  young  water  birds  while 
swimming  are  often  in  danger  from  them.  Older  birds  learn 
to  avoid  the  rush  of  the  fish.  I  have  seen  a  Grebe  spring 
into  the  air  to  escape  a  pickerel  that  darted  at  its  feet. 

With  this  brief  glance  at  the  reasons  for  the  decrease  of 
birds,  and  this  enumeration  of  the  natural  enemies  which 
serve  to  regulate  the  increase  in  the  numbers  of  birds,  we 
may  now  turn  to  the  problem  of  bird  protection. 


372  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


CHAPTER  XIL 

THE  PROTECTION  OF  BIRDS. 

The  first  and  most  important  step  in  bird  protection  to 
be  taken  by  the  individual  is  to  attract  the  birds  about  his 
home,  and  endeavor  to  increase  their  numbers.  The  farmer 
is  especially  well  situated  to  do  this.  His  garden,  orchard, 
and  fertile  fields  lie  about  his  buildings ;  and  birds  under 
protection  naturally  gather  about  the  farm  home.  The 
dweller  in  a  village  or  a  city  suburb  is  also  well  situated 
for  bird  protection,  provided  he  can  fence  out  the  cat  and 
suppress  the  Sparrow,  for  there  the  natural  enemies  that 
live  in  the  woods  are  absent,  and  the  gunner  is  shut  out. 
Some  of  the  most  successful  bird  colonies  have  been  estab- 
lished in  city  gardens.  Birds  about  the  home  can  be  readily 
watched  and  protected  at  all  seasons ;  their  habits,  their 
wants,  and  their  enemies  can  be  observed  and  studied  ;  safe 
nesting  places  can  be  provided,  and  each  colony  thus  estab- 
lished sends  out  annually  many  young  birds  to  populate  the 
surrounding  region.  This  accomplished,  with  little  expense 
and  trouble,  the  farmer  or  gardener  is  the  gainer,  for  birds 
are  not  now  generally  numerous  enough  to  keep  down  the 
insects  in  our  orchards,  gardens,  and  fields,  or  to  hold  in 
check  the  weeds  in  our  cultivated  grounds.  If,  however,  by 
furnishing  extra  food  and  nesting  facilities,  we  can  attract 
about  our  homes  more  birds  than  the  land  normally  sup- 
ports, and  there  maintain  them,  they  will  form  a  very  effec- 
tive check  on  both  weeds  and  insects. 

It  may  be  difficult  for  the  individual  to  secure  a  perma- 
nent increase  of  migratory  insectivorous  birds  on  his  farm- 
stead, for  most  of  the  young  that  are  reared  become  victims 
of  casualties  during  migration  ;  but  he  can  increase  the  num- 
ber and  size  of  the  broods  reared  on  his  place,  and  thus  aug- 
ment the  summer  bird  population,  and  he  can  double  the  usual 
number  of  winter  visitants  found  there.  He  may  do  much 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  373 

better  than  this.  Prof.  C.  F.  Hodge  has  in  three  years  been 
able  to  show  an  increase  of  three  hundred  per  cent,  in  the 
native  bird  population  of  a  city  block.  Whenever  the  best 
methods  of  attracting  and  protecting  birds  become  gener- 
ally known  and  practised,  a  general  increase  of  birds,  and 
a  consequent  great  benefit  to  the  farmer,  must  result. 

METHODS   OF    ATTRACTING    BIRDS. 

He  who  is  about  to  purchase  a  farm  or  a  country  place 
may,  by  keeping  in  mind  the  natural  features  which  attract 
birds,  secure  a  location  perfectly  adapted  to  their  wants. 
Such  a  place  should  be  so  situated  as  to  provide  shelter 
from  cold,  northerly  winds  and  storms.  It  must  be  well 
watered,  and  should  be  provided  with  small  patches  of 
coniferous  trees,  and  windbreaks  of  trees,  shrubs,  and  vines. 
Large  groves  of  pines  or  other  conifers  are  not  particularlv 
desirable,  as  they  provide  nesting  places  for  Crows,  Jays, 
Hawks,  and  other  enemies  of  small  birds.  It  should  have 
a  great  diversity  of  vegetation,  including  a  variety  of  fruit- 
bearing  plants.  A  portion  of  the  land  should  be  wooded. 
If  there  are  too  many  trees,  they  may  be  cut  in  much  less 
time  than  it  takes  to  grow  them  ;  and  those  trees,  shrubs, 
and  vines  that  are  especially  attractive  to  birds  may  be  left. 
It  is  well  to  leave  some  dead  trees  or  dead  limbs  in  which 
the  Woodpeckers  can  breed,  for,  unless  these  birds  can  be 
induced  to  nest  about  the  farm,  the  trees  will  suffer  from 
many  insidious  insect  foes. 

He  who  already  owns  a  farm  will  usually  have  little  diffi- 
culty in  making  it  a  paradise  for  birds,  but  he  may  find 
it  more  troublesome  to  protect  them  from  their  enemies. 
Those  who  have  groves  of  large  wrhite  oaks  are  fortunate  in- 
deed, for  it  takes  many  years  to  grow  these  fine  trees.  The 
acorns  are  sought  by  birds  and  squirrels,  and  the  trees  sup- 
port thousands  of  insects  which  are  eaten  by  such  useful 
birds  as  the  Blue  Jay,  Scarlet  Tanager,  Rose-breasted  Gros- 
beak, and  Baltimore  Oriole.  The  white  or  gray  birch  is 
another  important  tree,  for  many  birds  feed  on  insects  which 
infest  it  in  spring,  summer,  or  autumn,  and  others  feed  on 
its  seeds  in  winter.  The  common  gray  alder  has  seeds 


374 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


which  birds  eat  in  winter.  The  elms  ripen  their  seeds 
early,  thus  providing  bird  food  in  June,  while  their  branches 
furnish  favorite  nesting  places  for  Robins,  Orioles,  and 
Vireos.  The  spanworms  which  infest  these  trees  are  sought 
by  nearly  all  small  land  birds.  The  maples  are  favorite 

nesting  trees,  and 
their  seeds,  which 
sometimes  remain 
on  the  trees,  form  a 
staple  article  of  food 
for  the  Pine  Gros- 
beak. The  seeds 
of  the  ash  are  eaten 
by  Grosbeaks  and 
Purple  Finches. 
Among  the  conifer- 
ous trees  none  are 
more  attractive  to 

Pig.  157.  — Seed  catkins  of  the  gray  birch.  .  .     ,        , 

certain  birds  than 

the  white  pine,  the  pitch  pine,  and  the  larch  or  hackmatack. 
The  first  two  offer  insect  food  to  many  Warblers  ;  their  cones 
and  shoots  are  utilized  by  birds  and  squirrels  in  winter.  The 
spruces  and  hemlocks  also  have  their  following  among  the 
birds.  These  conifers  are  valuable  for  the  shelter  they  pro- 
vide in  winter  to  all  birds,  from  Owls  to  Sparrows. 

There  are  numerous  fruit-bearing  trees,  shrubs,  and  vines 
that  are  essential  to  bird  welfare.  In  the  present  state  of 
our  knowledge  of  bird  food  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  name 
most  of  these  plants,  giving  with  each  a  provisional  list  of 
the  birds  that  feed  upon  it ;  but  it  will  be  sufficient  for  the 
present  purpose  to  give  merely  a  list  of  the  plants,  indicat- 
ing by  an  asterisk  which  are  among  the  most  important  as 
furnishing  food  for  a  large  number  of  birds. 

A  List  of  Fruit-bearing  Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Vines  furnishing  Food  for 

Birds. 
Wild  sarsaparilla,  .         .         .  .     Aralia  nudicaulis. 

*  American  mountain  ash,         ....     Sorbus  Americana. 

*  European  mountain  ash,          ....     Sorbus  Aucuparia. 

*  Staghorn  sumac,    .         .         .         .     "    .         .     Ehus  hirla. 


June  Berry.  Ground  Juniper. 

PLATE    XXXVIII.  — Fruits  that  are  valuable  as  Bird  Food. 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  375 

Smooth  sumac,          ....     Rhus  glabra. 

Poison  sumac,  poison  dogwood,         .     Rhus  Vernix. 

Poison  ivy, Rhus  radicans. 

Raspberries,      thimbleberries,      and 

blackberries,         ....     Rubus. 

(All  species  are  eaten  by  birds.) 

Wild  or  dwarf  rose,          .          .          .     Rosa  humilis. 

(The  hips  of  other  species  are  probably  eaten.) 

Red-berried  elder,  red  elder,    .          .     Sambucus  pubens. 

American  elder,   sweet  elder,  black 

elder,  ......     Sambucus  Canadensis. 

Sweet  gum,      .....     Liquidambar  Styracifiua. 

Wild  gooseberries  and  currants,        .     Ribes. 
(All  species.) 

Moonseed,  Canada  moonseed,  .         .     Menispermum  Canadense. 

Virginia  creeper,  —  woodbine,  .     Parthenocissus  quinquefolia. 

Wild  grapes,    .....      Vitis. 
(All  species.) 

Probably  all  the  thorn  trees  (Cratcegus) ,  including  the  English  haw- 
thorn (Cratvegus  Oxyacanlha} . 

Sassafras,          .....     Sassafras  Sassafras. 

Red  mulberry,          ....     Morus  rubra. 

Russian  mulberry,   ....     Morus  alba,  var.  Tatarica. 

Hackberry,  nettle  tree  or  sugar  berry,     Cellis  occidentalis. 

American  holly,        ....     Ilex  opaca. 

Winterberry,  black  alder,          .         .     Ilex  verlicillata. 

(Probably  other  species  of  holly  (7fec)  are  also  eaten.) 

Climbing  bittersweet,  stafftree,  wax- 
work, ......     Celastrus  scandens. 

Bayberry  (wax  myrtle),  .          .         .     Myrica  Carolinensis. 

Barberry,  common  (European),        .     Berberis  vulgaris. 

Shad  bush,  June  berry,    .         .         .     Amelanchier  Canadensis. 

Red  chokeberry,       ....     Aronia  arbutifolia. 
(Probably  the  black  chokeberry  is  also  eaten.) 

Beach  plum,     .....     Prunus  maritima. 
(And  probably  other  plums.) 

Wild  red  cherry,  bird  cherry,  .         .     Prunus  Pennsylvania. 

Sand  cherry,    .....     Prunus  pumila. 

Black  cherry,  rum  cherry,         .         .     Prunus  serotina. 

Choke  cherry,  .....     Prunus  Virginiana. 

Withe-rod,        .....      Viburnum  nudum. 

Sweet  viburnum,  Nanny  plum,  sheep 

berry,  ......      Viburnum  Lentago. 

Cranberry  tree,         ....      Viburnum  Opulus.1 

1  Probably  the  berries  of  the  arrowwoods  of  this  genus  are  also  eaten  by  birds. 


37G  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


*  Greenbrier,  catbrier,  bullbrier,         .  Smilax  rotundifolia. 
Spice  bush,  fever  bush,    .         .         .  Benzoin  Benzoin. 

*  Blueberries  and  huckleberries,          .  Vaccinium  and  Oaylussacia. 

(Nearly  all  species  eaten.) 

Cranberry, Oxycoccus  macrocarpus. 

Dwarf  cranberry,     ....  Oxycoccus  Oxycoccus. 

Crowberry,      .....  Corema  Conradii. 

Bearberry,       .....  Arctostaphylos  Uva-Ursi. 

*  Tupelo,  sour  gum,  pepperidge,         .  Nyssa  sylvatica. 

*  Flowering  dogwood,         .         .         .  Cornus  florida. 

*  Red  osier,  dogwood,         .         .         .  Cornus  stolonifera. 

*  Alternate-leaved  cornel,  green  osier, 

dogwood,     .....  Cornus  alternifolia. 
(The  berries  of  other  species  of  cornel  are  probably  eaten.) 

Partridge  berry,       ....  Mitchella  repens. 

*  Red  cedar,  savin,     ....  Juniperus  Virginiana. 
Common  juniper,  ground  juniper,     .  Juniperus  nana. 

This  list  probably  does  not  include  all  the  native  trees, 
shrubs,  and  vines  that  bear  a  more  or  less  pulpy  fruit  and 
contribute  largely  to  the  sustenance  of  birds,  but  it  is  be- 
lieved that  it  comprises  those  of  most  importance,  with  the 
addition  of  a  few  valuable  introduced  species. 

There  are  many  trees,  not  named  in  the  above  list,  that 
attract  a  few  birds.  The  willows,  for  example,  are  fre- 
quented by  certain  Warblers.  Among  the  shrubs,  the  fruit 
of  the  burning  bush  (Euonymus  atropurpureus)  is  sought 
by  some  birds.  The  berries  of  the  nightshade  (Solanum 
nigiitm),  though  believed  to  be  poisonous,  are  eaten  by 
birds.  The  pokeweed  (Phytolacca  decandra)  furnishes  a 
fruit  which,  though  it  is  believed  to  have  poisonous  prop- 
erties, is  eaten  by  very  many  birds. 

Those  fruit-bearing  plants  which  retain  their  fruit  in  win- 
ter are  of  great  importance.  Such  plants  enable  many  birds 
to  exist  through  our  winter  storms.  The  bayberry  is  among 
the  most  valuable  of  the  low-growing  shrubs.  Nearly  all 
the  winter  birds,  from  the  Kinglet  to  the  Crow,  eat  these 
berries.  Where  the  bushes  are  not  covered  with  snow,  the 
supply  at  Wareham  usually  becomes  exhausted  in  February, 
after  which  the  Myrtle  Warblers  and  many  of  the  winter 
Sparrows  disappear.  The  bayberry  bushes,  being  low,  are 
sometimes  covered  with  the  drifting  snow,  and  then  the 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS. 


377 


birds  must  seek  their  food  from  larger  and  higher  shrubs, 
trees,  and  vines.  The  mountain  ash,  black  alder,  and  red 
cedar  are  favorite  fruiting  trees  in  winter  :  while  among 
shrubs,  barberry  and  sumac  are  much  sought. 

Fortunately,  many  of  the  trees  or  shrubs  which  furnish 
food  and  shelter  for  birds  are  suitable  for  use  in  the  ornamen- 
tation of  grounds. 
Hedges  may  be  made 
of  holly  or  hawthorn. 
The  red  cedar  and 
other  coniferous  trees 
are  highly  ornamen- 
tal. Elm,  maple,  and 
ash  trees  are  all  in 
demand  for  shade. 
Some  of  the  shrubs 
may  be  used  as  bor- 
ders for  drives  or 
massed  to  hide  defects 
in  the  landscape.  The 
Virginia  creeper  may  be  utilized  in  place  of  the  imported  ivy 
vines.  Many  of  the  plants  in  our  list  may  be  employed  in 
forming  tangles  along  stone  walls,  about  rocky  eminences,  or 
on  the  borders  of  swamps  or  ponds.  Such  tangles,  overgrown 
by  smilax  or  other  vines,  form  safe  retreats  for  small  birds 
when  pursued  by  Hawks,  and  furnish  secure  nesting  places. 
They  also  provide  sheltered  retreats  for  the  winter  birds. 

Feeding  and  Assembling  the  Winter  Birds. 

The  results  of  assembling  the  winter  birds  about  the 
farm  and  orchard  are  of  the  utmost  value  to  the  farmer. 
Prof.  H.  A.  Surface,  State  Zoologist  of  Pennsylvania,  writes 
that  a  Mr.  Mann,  a  well-known  pear  grower  of  Rochester, 
X.  Y.,  told  him  that  one  year  the  pear  tree  psylla  had  de- 
stroyed his  entire  pear  crop,  and  that  he  thought  there  were 
no  prospects  of  a  crop  the  following  year ;  but  Nuthatches 
came  and  worked  "  in  flocks  "  in  his  orchard  all  winter,  and 
in  the  spring  he  could  find  hardly  an  insect.  Thus  these 
Nuthatches  saved  him  thousands  of  dollars  in  one  winter. 


Fig.  158.  — Fruit  of  the  Virginia  juniper  or 
red  cedar. 


378  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


We  may  properly  include  under  the  head  of  winter  feeding 
the  provision  of  food  for  such  land  birds  as  migrate  through 
New  England  in  late  fall,  winter,  or  early  spring,  and  those 
that  are  resident  in  winter.  At  that  season  the  farmer  is 
likely  to  have  more  time  to  attend  to  birds  than  in  summer, 
and  in  the  colder  months  they  most  need  our  help.  No  doubt 
thousands  of  birds,  that  might  have  been  saved  with  very 
little  trouble  on  the  farmer's  part,  have  been  starved  in  hard 
winters. 

We  may  expect  to  be  visited  in  autumn  by  Robins  and 
other  migrating  Thrushes,  some  of  which,  in  favorable  sea- 
sons, may  remain  through  the  winter.  To  keep  such  birds 
in  winter  we  must  have  sheltering  evergreens,  and  vines, 
shrubs,  and  trees  which  retain  their  fruit.  The  berries  of 
the  Virginia  creeper  are  especially  acceptable  to  Thrushes. 

It  is  very  desirable  to  keep  with  us  as  long  as  possible 
the  many  species  of  Sparrows  which  pass  through  the  coun- 
try on  their  way  south  in  fall,  and  to  persuade  as  many  as 
we  may  to  remain  through  the  winter.  Careless  husbandry 
tends  to  bring  these  birds  about  in  spring  and  fall,  when 
they  gather  to  feed  on  weed  seeds  in  neglected  gardens  and 
fields  ;  but,  if  we  wish  to  have  them  continue  this  good  work 
all  through  the  winter  and  spring,  they  must  be  provided 
with  food,  under  shelter,  to  which  they  can  resort  during 
snowstorms  and  afterward,  while  the  snow  lies  deep  or  when 
all  vegetation  is  covered  with  a  coating  of  ice  from  the  driv- 
ing sleet  or  freezing  rain.  The  Sparrows  seem  to  prefer,  as 
a  place  of  refuge  from  their  enemies,  the  shelter  afforded  by 
thickets  and  tangles  of  deciduous  bushes  and  vines,  such  as 
may  sometimes  be  found  on  the  south  side  of  a  hill  near  the 
edge  of  a  swamp.  A  few  brush  piles  will  give  them  addi- 
tional shelter.  A  little  chaff  scattered  in  the  dooryard  will 
bring  them  about  the  house  whenever  a  flurry  of  snow  covers 
the  ground.  Where  there  are  scratching  sheds  for  poultry, 
with  the  south  side  of  each  shed  open  except  for  its  screen 
of  poultry  netting,  the  birds  will  find  shelter  and  food  on 
cold  and  stormy  mornings.  Birds  readily  pass  through  or- 
dinary two-inch  mesh  poultry  netting,  and  when  once  in  the 
shed  they  are  safe  from  the  attacks  of  cats  and  Hawks.  Where 


PLATE  XXXIX.  — A  Bountiful  Repast.     J uncos  and  a  Tree  Sparrow  picking 
up  seed  from  the  snow  beneath  author's  window. 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  379 

there  are  no  cats,  an}'  shed  near  the  house,  and  opening  toward 
the  south,  will  be  a  good  feeding  place  for  birds.  They  will 
go  there  to  feed  when  snow  lies  deep  on  the  ground.  At 
other  times  they  will  feed  mostly  in  weed  thickets,  fields, 
and  gardens. 

There  are  so  many  kinds  of  seeds  that  are  relished  by 
birds  that  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  furnishing  them  a 
liberal  supply  of  food  when  they  need  it.  The  farmer  will 
find  on  his  barn  floors  chaff  mixed  with  enough  seed  to  feed 
a  large  flock  of  birds  through  the  entire  winter.  This  should 
be  gathered  from  the  leavings  of  the  latest  cut  first  crop  of 
hay,  for  there  will  be  less  matured  seed  of  any  kind  in  the 
early  cut  hay.  Those  who  wish  to  provide  more  attractive 
food  have  their  choice  of  the  various  seeds  sold  at  the  bird 
stores.  Farmers  often  grow  sunflowers  for  the  fowls.  These 
will  attract  Goldfinches ;  sunflower  heads  or  detached  seeds 
make  a  good  winter  food  for  birds.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  give 
one  or  more  of  the  children  a  small  patch  of  land  near  the 
house,  on  which  to  raise  Japanese  millet.  If  sown  broad- 
cast on  rich,  moist  soil,  it  will  grow  from  five  to  seven  feet 
in  height,  and  the  large  seed  heads  will  supply  an  immense 
quantity  of  seed.  It  takes  but  three  or  four  square  rods  of 
land  to  produce  all  the  seed  one  will  need  for  birds,  for  a 
bushel  or  two  ought  to  suffice  for  an  ordinary  winter. 

Winter  is  the  time,  if  ever,  to  feed  the  Jays  and  Crows. 
If  they  do  not  molest  the  smaller  birds  they  can  do  little 
harm,  and  they  m&y  do  much  good.  Hang  up  a  choice  bit 
of  carrion  in  the  orchard  or  in  the  edge  of  the  woods.  It 
should  be  seven  or  eight  feet  from  the  ground,  so  as  to  be 
out  of  the  reach  of  dogs  or  foxes.  The  skinned  carcass  of  a 
fox  or  a  cat  will  do  very  well.  It  should  be  so  placed  that 
the  Crows  can  find  no  convenient  roost  within  easy  reach 
of  it.  It  will  then  last  the  longer,  and  keep  more  of  them 
from  starvation.  When  the  snow  is  deep  they  can  resort  to 
it  one  or  two  at  a  time,  and  when  patches  of  ground  become 
bare  they  will  hunt  meadow  mice  and  dormant  insects  in  the 
fields  and  thickets.  By  feeding  them  you  may  prevent  their 
eating  all  the  ba^vberries  and  other  berries  on  which  some  of 
the  smaller  birds  depend  for  food.  Jays  are  also  of  great 


380 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


benefit  to  the  orchard,  by  eating  the  eggs  of  the  tent  cater- 
pillar moth. 

Woodpeckers,  Nuthatches,  and  Chickadees  are  all  attracted 
by  animal  food.  Juncos  and  Tree  Sparrows  acquire  a  taste 
for  it  during  deep  snows,  when  their  usual  food  is  buried. 
Unsalted  bones,  with  meat,  fat,  or  marrow  attached,  beef  or 


Fig.  159.  —  Downy  Woodpecker  feeding  on  suet  at  the  author's  window.    (From  Bird- 
Lore.) 

mutton  tallow,  fat,  or  suet  may  all  be  used  for  this  purpose. 
Beef  bones  from  the  market,  hung  upon  or  wired  to  the  or- 
chard trees,  will  furnish  food  for  these  birds.  Some  bones 
should  be  split,  to  expose  the  contents.  Fat  or  suet  will  give 
the  needed  animal  heat  on  which  birds  must  rely  during  cold, 
stormy  weather.  Pork  rind,  even,  may  be  used ;  but  salt 
meat  is  believed  to  be  bad  food  for  birds,  although  some  will 
eat  it,  and  Crossbills  appear  to  be  very  fond  of  it.  If  a  bird 
can  get  food  enough,  it  can  withstand  very  cold  weather ;  but 
if  it  starves,  it  soon  freezes.  Bones  or  suet  should  be  put 


PLATE  XLI.  —  Chickadee  seen  through  Window,  at  Author's  Home. 


PLATE   XLII.  —  Chickadees  on  Pork  Rind.     (Photograph  by 
A.  C.  Dike.) 


PLATE   XLIII.  —  Ernest  Harold  Baynes  taming  a 
Chickadee. 


PLATE  XLIV.— Chickadee  feeding  from 
the  Hand.    (Photograph  by  A.  C.  Dike.) 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS. 


381 


out  in  October  or  early  in  November.  It  is  important  to 
begin  early,  so  that  the  birds  may  form  a  habit  of  coming 
to  the  food  before  winter  comes  on.  It  should  be  renewed 
occasionally  until 
late  in  spring. 
This  will  keep 
birds  about  the 
orchard  all  win- 
ter, where  they 
will  spend  most 
of  the  time  in 
hunting  for  the 
eggs  and  other 
forms  of  insects. 
Food  should  be 
put  up  on  or  near 
those  trees  which 
are  known  to 
be  infested  by 
insects. 

Chickadees  and 
Nuthatches  are 
remarkably  un- 
suspicious, and 
any  one  who  cares 
to  spend  a  little 
time  in  the  effort 
may  readily  teach 
them  to  eat  from 
the  hand.  Sev- 


Fig.  16O.— The  birds' Christmas  tree  at  the  author's  farm- 
house.    (From  Bird-Lore.) 


eral  other  species 
may  be  enticed  to 
our  windows,  where  their  habits  and  manners  may  be  studied 
in  comfort  even  in  the  most  blustering  winter  weather.  We 
accomplished  this  as  follows  :  small  shrubs  or  branches  of 
trees  were  fastened  upright  on  each  window  sill,  extending 
over  the  entire  window,  and  fastened  at  each  side  to  the 
window  frame,  as  shown  in  Fig.  159.  To  these  branches 
pieces  of  meat  were  attached,  about  a  foot  apart.  The  suet 


382 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


should  be  wound  on  firmly  with  string  or  wrapped  in  wire 
netting,  so  that  it  cannot  be  carried  off  bodily.  At  first  the 
birds  would  come  only  one  at  a  time,  but  Avhen  they  became 
accustomed  to  this  method  of  feeding,  four  or  five  birds  would 
feed  together  at  a  window.  Chickadees  usually  came  first, 
Nuthatches  and  Downy  Woodpeckers  next,  and  Blue  Jays 
last. 

While  these  birds  were  being  enticed  to  the  windows,  the 
Sparrows  were  fed  with  seeds  and  crumbs  thrown  out  upon 

the  snow.  Next,  a 
shelf  or  table  four  and 
one-half  feet  long  and 
two  feet  wide  was  made 
of  rough  box  boards. 
This  was  bound  round 
with  a  narrow  cleat  and 
covered  with  burlap, 
to  prevent  seeds  and 
crumbs  from  blowing 
off.  A  little  pine  tree 
was  next  set  up  in  the 
centre  of  the  food  table, 
the  table  or  shelf  was 
fastened  under  a  win- 
dow sill  on  the  south 
side  of  the  house,  vari- 
ous food  materials  were 
attached  to  the  tree  and 


Fig.  161.— The  birds'  tepee.    (From  Bird-Lore.) 


spread  upon  the  table,  and  the  "  birds'  Christmas  tree  "  was 
ready. 

The  Chickadees  came  to  it  at  once,  and  the  first  snow- 
storm brought  the  native  Sparrows.  At  first  there  was  quar- 
reling among  them,  as  all  wanted  to  feed  at  once,  and  both 
tree  and  table  were  small ;  but  necessity  finally  brought  about 
more  amicable  relations,  and  at  last  many  birds  of  different 
species  would  feed  together.  At  first  the  Sparrows  were 
shy,  and  flew  off  at  the  first  movement  made  by  any  one 
inside.  Later,  one  could  sit  by  the  window  and  see  perhaps 
eight  or  ten  birds  of  three  or  four  species  busily  feeding,  a 


PLATE  XLV.  — Chickadees  seen  on  a  Frosty  Morning,  through  Author's 
Window. 


PLATE  XLVI.  — A  Red-breasted  Nuthatch  at  the 
Window.  (Photograph,  from  life,  by  C.  Allan 
Lyford.) 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS. 


383 


few  feet  away.  Quick  motions  on  the  part  of  the  observer 
should  be  avoided.  If  the  birds  are  shy,  a  lace  sash  curtain 
may  be  put  up.  They  cannot  see  through  this,  and  may  be 
watched  at  leisure. 

We  have  fed  the  birds  in  this  way  for  years.  A  flock  of 
Juncos  and  Tree  Sparrows  and  two  Fox  Sparrows  remained 
about  our  house  through  the  hard  winter  of  1903—04.  Many 
Jays  came  to  the  trees  near  by,  and  some  to  the  windows. 
Crows  came  within  twenty  yards  of  the  house.  Myrtle 
Warblers  occasionally  came  to  the  windows.  Downy  Wood- 
peckers, two  species  of  Nuthatches,  Flickers,  Creepers, 
Kinglets,  Crossbills, 
Robins,  Grouse,  Quail, 
and  Pheasants  were  seen 
about  the  house  from  time 
to  time.  A  large  dry 
goods  box  in  which  grain 
and  chaff  were  scattered 
was  set  out  on  the  north 
side  of  the  house.  This 
box  was  open  only  on  the 
south  side.  The  Quail 
and  Pheasants  soon  found 
it.  Then  it  was  moved 
daily  a  little  nearer  the 
house,  until  the  birds  had 
learned  to  feed  about  the 


Winder/ 


Fig.  162.  — Design  fora  Sparrow-proof  shelf. 
(From  Bird-Lore.) 


door-yard.1  The  presence  of  so  many  birds  gave  a  healthy 
stimulus  to  observation,  and  served  to  break  the  monotony 
of  winter  isolation  on  the  farm.  While  in  the  bleaker  por- 
tions of  the  State  it  may  not  be  possible  to  assemble  so 
many,  some  may  be  attracted  any w here. 

Even  our  city  friends  who  try  this  plan  need  not  despair 
of  seeing,  now  and  then,  besides  the  ubiquitous  Sparrow, 
some  of  the  wild  birds  of  field  and  woodland.  In  many  lo- 

1  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  provide  food  and  shelter  for  Quail  in  winter. 
An  old  box  or  barrel,  a  shelter  of  rails  in  a  fence  corner,  or  a  "  birds'  tepee  "  of 
bean  poles,  any  one  of  which  is  kept  supplied  with  a  little  grain,  may  carry 
through  a  severe  winter  Quail  enough  to  stock  a  whole  township  by  their  increase. 


384  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


calities  the  swarming  House  Sparrows  will  come  to  the  feast 
and  drive  the  native  birds  away.  A  hinged  shelf  (Fig.  162) 
supported  by  a  light  spring,  which  has  been  designed  by  a 
contributor  to  Bird-Lore,  is  believed  to  be  Sparrow-proof. 

This  method  of  feeding  gives  an  opportunity  to  see  what 
foods  are  selected  by  wild  birds  when  given  their  choice. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  birds  at  our  windows  have 
not  learned  to  eat  bread  except  in  the  shape  of  fine  crumbs. 
When  birds  learn  that  bread  is  good,  they  will  eat  it  from 
the  loaf.  Many  kinds  of  food  may  be  utilized  ;  doughnuts, 
frozen  milk,  pork  rind,  nuts,  and  seeds  all  find  favor  with 
the  birds.  Jays  prefer  chestnuts  and  corn.  Sand  and  coal 
cinders  give  birds  the  wherewithal  to  grind  their  food  when 
snow  covers  the  usual  supply  of  material  on  the  ground. 

Every  family  living  in  the  country  in  winter  needs  the 
pleasure  and  community  of  interest  to  be  had  in  thus  cater- 
ing to  the  wants  of  the  birds.  Each  farmhouse  should  have 
at  least  one  window  shelf  for  them.  We  should  teach  the 
children  to  feed  them  and  watch  for  them.  Thus  we  may 
benefit  both  child  and  bird,  and  gain  pleasure  and  profit  for 
ourselves. 

Attracting  the  Summer  Birds. 

The  term  "  summer  birds "  may  be  defined  as  including 
all  summer  residents,  or  those  birds  which  remain  through 
the  summer  to  breed.  In  winter  we  have  only  to  offer  food 
to  the  birds  to  attract  them ;  shelter  and  protection  will 
retain  them ;  but  in  summer  birds  must  have  food,  water, 
protection,  and  a  home.  Food  in  quantities  they  always 
need,  especially  when  engaged  in  rearing  their  young. 
Nature  provides  this  in  summer,  but  we  may  help  them 
even  then  by  putting  out  favorite  foods.  The  supply  of 
suet  should  be  kept  up  until  hot  weather,  and  it  is  better 
to  continue  it  all  summer,  for  its  presence  may  decide  some 
of  the  resident  birds  to  remain  and  nest  near  the  house  or 
in  the  orchard.  The  male  Chickadee  will  take  suet  to  feed 
to  his  sitting  mate,  and  the  parent  birds  will  take  it  for  a 
part  of  their  own  food  while  feeding  their  young  mainly  on 
insects. 

If  we  wish  to  attract  useful  birds  to  the  garden,  it  is  well 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  385 


to  begin  to  feed  birds  when  they  are  migrating  in  April, 
by  .scattering  a  little  cracked  corn,  oats,  wheat,  barley,  or 
millet  .seed  in  the  yard  near  the  garden  or  along  the  garden 
paths.  This  may  attract  Sparrows,  Thrashers,  and  Black- 
birds, some  of  which  may  decide  to  remain  in  the  vicinity 
for  the  summer.  These  birds  and  the  Robins  and  Catbirds 
will  make  themselves  useful  by  feeding  on  insects  at  plowing 
time. 

Birds  will  drink  and  bathe  even  in  winter,  when  they  can 
find  water ;  but  in  summer  they  must  have  water  for  both 
purposes.  When  the  streams  are  frozen,  snow  takes  the 
place  of  water;  but  in  summer,  if  water  is  not  at  hand, 
birds  must  get  it  by  drinking  dew  and  by  eating  fruits  or 
succulent  green  vegetation.  Where  there  is  running  water 
about  the  house  or  garden,  they  may  do  very  well  without 
further  provision  for  their  needs  ;  but  it  is  best  in  any  case 
to  arrange  a  place  where  they  can  drink  and  bathe  without 
being  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  cats  and  Hawks.  A  shallow 
pan  set  on  the  window  shelf  or  on  the  top  of  a  post  on  the 
shady  side  of  the  house,  some  four  or  five  feet  from  the 
ground,  will  answer  every  purpose.  A  shelving  stone  may 
be  put  in,  to  give  a  varying  depth  of  water  in  different  parts 
of  the  pan.  The  water  should  not  be  more  than  two  inches 
deep  anvwhere,  and  not  more  than  half  an  inch  deep  on  one 
side  of  the  pan.  If  this  is  put  out  in  the  spring,  and  the 
birds  become  accustomed  to  visiting  it,  they  will  require  less 
fruit  than  usual.  The  water  should  be  changed  every  clay. 
This  pan  will  be  a  source  of  enjoyment  to  the  household 
during  the  noontime,  when  all  may  watch  the  birds  bathe 
and  splash  the  water  about.  AVhere  there  is  running  water 
a  drinking  fountain  may  easily  be  arranged.  This  may  be 
placed  on  the  lawn,  slightly  elevated,  and  supplied  from  a 
drip  ;  such  a  fountain  should  need  little  attention.  Orna- 
mental fountains  and  watering  troughs  are  often  so  deep 
that  there  is  no  chance  for  birds  to  drink  or  bathe.  There 
should  always  be  shallow  water  somewhere.  Most  orna- 
mental ponds  have  no  provision  for  birds.  The  water  is  too 
deep  or  the  coping  too  high.  In  such  cases  a  large  stone 
with  a  surface  shelving  into  and  just  beneath  the  water,  or 


386 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


a  shallow  floating  basin,  provided  with  a  wide  wooden  rim 
to  keep  it  afloat,  may  be  used. 

There  are  usually  springs  or  brooks  about  the  farm,  where 
birds  can  drink  or  bathe ;  but  too  often  the  long  grass  or 

low  bushes  about  these 

drinking  places  conceal 
the  crafty  cat,  which  lies 
in  wait  to  catch  birds 
when  their  feathers  are 
wet  from  bathing.  A 
fountain  on  the  closely 
cropped  lawn,  like  the 
one  designed  by  Mr. 
Chapman,  is  admirable 
if  cats  can  be  kept  from 
it. 

When  the  cherry 
trees  are  in  blossom 
the  Hummingbirds 
come.  There  should 
be  a  succession  of 
nectar-bearing  flowers 
in  the  garden,  to  at- 
tract them.  The  gla- 
diolus, honeysuckle,  and  bee  balm  are  favorite  flowers,  but 
many  others  lure  the  Hummingbirds. 

Providing  Nesting  Places  about  Buildings. 

When  the  tide  of  bird  life  begins  to  turn  northward  in  the 
spring,  and  before  farm  work  becomes  pressing,  we  should 
see  that  plenty  of  suitable  nesting  places  are  provided  about 
our  buildings  for  the  birds,  and  that  there  is  an  abundant 
supply  of  nesting  material  with  which  they  can  construct 
their  homes. 

Birds,  like  men,  are  largely  controlled  by  circumstances. 
The  presence  or  absence  of  a  nesting  place  may  decide  a  pair 
of  birds  for  or  against  the  acceptance  of  a  certain  locality  as 
a  place  of  residence. 

In  the  rough  buildings  of  our  grandfathers  there  were 


Fig.  163.  — Mr.  Chapman's  bird 
Bird-Lore.) 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  387 

always  openings  left  for  the  birds  to  enter.  The  rafters 
were  round  or  rough-hewn  timbers,  on  which  they  could 
find  points  of  attachment  for  their  nests.  Most  barns  now 
built  are  closely  boarded  and  battened,  clapboarded  or 
shingled  to  the  ground.  No  entrance  hole  is  left  for  the 
birds.  The  timbers  are  sawn  so  smoothly  that  the  birds, 
if  they  get  in,  can  find  no  safe  attachment  for  their  nests. 
Even  where  the  eaves  project  so  as  to  give  sufficient  shelter 
for  Swallows,  the  mud  with  which  they  build  their  nests 
will  not  stick  to  the  planed  and  painted  boards. 

Let  every  farmer  having  such  a  barn  cut  an  ornamental 
opening  at  least  a  foot  wide  in  each  gable,  leaving  it  open 
all  summer,  so  that  the  Swallows  may  fly  in ;  or,  better  still, 
cut  an  opening  three  or  four  feet  long  over  the  barn  door, 
through  which  Swallows  can  go  at  will.  Let  him  nail  rough 
cleats  horizontally  on  some  of  the  rafters,  or  put  up  little 
bracket  shelves  thereon  ;  and  let  each  farmer  having  a  barn 
with  wide,  projecting  eaves  put  up  a  long  shelf,  cleat,  or 
joist  on  the  side  of  the  barn  within  a  foot  of  the  eaves,  for 
the  Eaves  Swallows  ;  and  we  may  in  time  have  more  Swal- 
lows than  ever  before,  provided  care  is  taken  to  shoot  ma- 
rauding English  SpaiTows.  If  we  had  more  Swallows  and 
Phcebes  we  should  have  fewer  flies,  mosquitoes,  and  garden 
pests. 

The  Chimney  Swifts  have  been  driven  away  by  the  con- 
struction of  modern  chimneys,  and  destroyed  by  unseason- 
able storms.  They  still  nest  in  the  large  chimneys  of  the 
older  houses.  A  box  made  of  boards  planed  on  the  out- 
side may  be  built  of  the  size  and  shape  of  an  old-fashioned 
chimney,  with  similar  divisions,  and  firmly  fastened  upon 
the  roof  of  a  building,  to  attract  the  Swifts.  It  is  not  nec- 
essary that  it  be  high,  or  even  that  it  be  upon  the  top  of  a 
building  ;  but  it  should  be  out  of  reach  of  cats.  Possibly  a 
few  thin,  wooden  cleats  nailed  horizontally  inside  will  assist 
the  birds.  By  means  of  a  door  in  such  a  structure,  and  an 
arrangement  of  mirrors,  the  habits  of  these  interesting  birds 
may  be  studied. 

The  Phrebe  prefers  a  roof  over  its  head,  such  as  is  some- 
times furnished  by  the  upturned  roots  of  a  large  tree,  a 


388  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


bridge,  barn,  shed,  or  unoccupied  house.  It  will  occupy 
almost  any  shed,  barn,  or  barn  cellar  near  a  pond  or  stream, 
but  its  nest  is  sometimes  broken  down  for  lack  of  a  proper 
support.  A  box  like  that  in  Fig.  1(54  will  be  acceptable  to 
the  Phoebe  if  nailed  up  to  the  plate  or  rafters  of  a  low  shed. 
If  the  shed  is  closed,  an  opening 
should  always  be  left  for  the  birds. 
An  open  window,  with  a  few  bars 
across  it  to  keep  out  cats  and  human 
intruders,  is  all  that  is  necessary. 
Phoebes  sometimes  build  on  a  shelf 

under  projecting  eaves.  They  par- 
Fig.  164.  —  Phoebe's  nest  in  box.  J.  -  l 

ticularly  like  a  rough  stone  build- 
ing. Robins  will  often  build  in  rough  boxes  or  trays,  or  on 
shelves  put  up  under  eaves  or  piazzas,  in  arbors  or  even  in 
buildings. 

Having  provided  nesting  places  for  all  the  birds  that  may 
be  induced  to  nest  within  our  buildings,  we  may  next  turn 
our  attention  to  making  nesting  boxes. 

Bird  Houses  and  Nesting  Boxes. 

Since  the  use  of  the  axe  and  saw  in  woodland  and  orchard 
has  deprived  many  birds  of  their  natural  nesting  places  in 
hollow  trees  or  limbs,  there  is  no  better  way  of  providing  for 
an  increase  of  the  numbers  of  such  birds  than  by  furnishing 
them  with  artificial  building  sites.  Bluebirds  found  drowned 
in  cisterns,  Owls,  Flickers,  and  Wood  Ducks  found  dead  in 
the  stove  pipes  of  unoccupied  buildings,  all  show  the  straits 
to  which  birds  are  now  driven  in  the  search  for  a  nesting  site. 
All  apertures  that  lead  to  such  death-traps  should  be  closed, 
and  a  plentiful  supply  of  artificial  breeding  places  should  be 
provided. 

What  more  interesting  occupation  can  there  be  for  the 
children  on  the  farm  than  that  of  preparing  nesting  boxes 
for  the  birds?  This  is  the  surest  way  of  increasing  the 
summer  bird  population,  for  birds  do  not  lack  food  in  sum- 
mer so  much  as  safe  nesting  places  in  which  to  rear  their 
young. 

Unfortunately,  however,  a  great  obstacle  to  success  with 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS. 


native  birds  is  found  in  all  cities  and  most  villages  of  the 
State.  The  introduced  House  or  "  English  "  Sparrow  comes 
first,  and  occupies  the  boxes.  The  Sparrow  will  nest  in  all 
boxes  except  those  that  are  suspended  by  a  wire  or  rope. 
Bluebirds  and  Tree  Swallows  will  sometimes  occupy  such 
Sparrow-proof  boxes ;  but  the  farmer 
need  not  use  them,  for  he  can  keep 
his  place  clear  of  Sparrows  by  a 
vigorous  use  of  the  shotgun,  and 
by  putting  up  nesting  boxes  he  may 
bring  back  the  native  birds.  There 
are  many  localities  where  the  Spar- 
row has  never  been  very  troublesome, 
and  where  native  birds  have  contin- 
ued to  breed  practically  unmolested. 
In  such  places  we  may  put  up  fixed 
bird  houses,  with  the  confident  ex- 
pectation that  Tree  Swallows  or 
Bluebirds  will  nest  in  them,  which  is 
more  than  can  be  said  of  the  swinging 
boxes.  Nevertheless,  where  Spar- 
rows are  very  troublesome,  the  only 
bird  box  that  is  practical  is  one  that 

is  hung  bv  wire.     Sparrows  seem  to  be  afraid  of  any  box  or 
perch  that  is  not  firmly  fastened. 

Wrens  are  not  generally  common,  and  the  Purple  Martins 
were  so  decimated  by  the  storms  of  June,  1903,  that  people 
who  can  establish  Martin  colonies  will  be  fortunate  indeed  ; 
but  the  Flicker,  the  Chickadee,  and  the  Screech  Owl  are 
among  the  possibilities,  while  Ave  may  by  chance  attract  the 
White-breasted  Nuthatch,  Crested  Flycatcher,  or  little  Saw- 
whet  Owl. 

Let  no  one  neglect  to  put  up  bird  houses  because  of  the 
expense.  No  monev  need  be  expended.  Birds  are  not  very 
fastidious  about  their  quarters.  Old,  weather-beaten  lumber 
seems  to  be  more  attractive  to  them  than  that  which  is  newly 
planed  or  painted,  probably  because  it  resembles  in  appear- 
ance the  weathered  stumps  or  limbs  in  which  they  naturally 
find  their  homes.  Very  acceptable  nesting  boxes  may  be 


Fig.  165.  —  Sparrow-proof  lx)x, 


390  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


made  from  a  hollow  limb  sawed  in  sections,  with  tops  and 
bottoms  made  of  an  old  board,  and  a  hole  bored  in  each 
section  for  an  entrance. 

Artistic  imitations  of  hollow  limbs  may  be  made  of  papier- 
mache,  but  this  involves  some  expense.  The  best  imitations 
of  a  hollow  log  that  I  have  seen  were  constructed  of  the 
bark  and  wood  of  a  sound  tree.  In  Bird-Lore  for  January- 
February,  1905,  and  in  the  Youth's  Companion  of  April  13, 
1905,  I  described  the  method  of  making  these  boxes,  but 
at  that  time  they  were  untried.  They  have  since  had  two 
seasons'  trial,  with  very  satisfactory  results.  To  Mr.  William 
Brewster  belongs  the  credit  of  their  invention,  and  I  have 
made  a  considerable  number  after  his  design.  White  birch 
and  chestnut  were  used,  as  it  was  believed  that  the  bark  of 
these  trees  would  be  most  durable,  but  Mr.  Brewster  now 
suggests  that  elm  bark  is  probably  best  of  all.  Those  por- 
tions of  the  trunks  used  were  from  four  to  eight  inches  in 
diameter.  The  boxes  were  made  in  summer,  as  the  bark 
will  not  usually  peel  well  before  about  June  20,  and  then 
only  for  a  short  time.  When  the  tree  had  been  cut  down,  the 
trunk  was  sawed  into  sections  from  ten  to  eighteen  inches 
long,  according  to  the  size  of  the  boxes  desired.  Only  straight 
sections,  free  from  knots  or  branches,  were  used.  A  branch 
of  the  right  size,  however,  may,  when  cut  off,  leave  a  hole 
in  the  bark  that  can  be  utilized  as  an  entrance  for  the  birds. 

These  domiciles  may  be  made  as  follows  :  an  incision  is 
made  on  the  side  intended  for  the  back  of  the  box,  through 
both  outer  and  inner  bark,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  each 
section  ;  then,  on  the  opposite  side,  some  two  or  three  inches 
from  the  top,  bore  through  the  bark,  with  an  auger  or  ex- 
tension-bit, a  hole  of  the  size  desired  for  the  entrance.  If 
such  tools  are  not  at  hand,  the  aperture  may  be  cut  with  a 
gouge,  a  chisel,  or  even  a  knife.  Next  insert  a  wedge-shaped 
stick  into  the  incision  at  the  back  and  under  the  inner  bark, 
to  start  it  off,  and  with  this  implement  peel  it  very  carefully. 
In  peeling  birch,  be  careful  not  to  separate  the  inner  and 
outer  layers  of  the  bark.  Be  particularly  cautious  when 
working  about  knots  or  rough  places.  The  bark  will  make 
the  sides  of  the  box,  and  two  sections,  each  an  inch  thick, 


PLATE    XLVII.-Bird  Houses  and  Nesting  Boxes.     Fig.  1.  hollow  limb  nest- 
ing box  ;  Fig.  2,  birch  bark  bird  house ;  Fig.  8,  slab  bird  box ;  Fig.  4,  cat-proof 
I  Fig.  o,  a  use  for  an  old  funnel;  Fig.  6,  chestmit-bark  nesting  box  •  Fi^s  7 
and  1),  boxes  with  slide  fronts;  Fig.  8.  house  for  Tree  Swallow. 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS. 


391 


sawed  from  the  ends  of  the  stick,  will  make  the  top  and  bot- 
tom. These  must  be  reduced  in  size  by  a  shave  until  the 
bark  can  be  lapped  fully  half  an  inch  at  the  incision  on  the 
back.  Xow  tack  the  bark  to  the  bottom  and  top.  Such  a 
box  may  be  put  up  by  nailing  or  screwing  a  short  stick  or 
pole  over  the  lap  on  the  back,  which  stick  can 
in  turn  be  nailed  or  screwed  to  the  support. 
To  make  the  roof  watertight,  a  piece  of  thin, 
green  bark  from  a  young  pine  may  be  put  on 
and  tacked  down  over  the  edges.  It  will  fit 
like  soft  leather,  and  make  a  neat  appearance  ; 
but  experience  has  shown  that  it  will  not  long 
resist  the  effect  of  sun  and  rain.  A  more  per- 
manent covering  may  be  made  by  using  a  piece 
of  tin  or  zinc,  as  shown  in  the  figure  of  the 
chestnut  bark  box  (Plate  XLVII,  Fig.  l>);  or 
a  roof  may  be  made  of  birch  bark,  as  shown  in 
Plate  XLVII,  Fig.  •>.  To  make  the  expected 
nest  accessible  to  examination,  the  top  of  the 
bark  side.s  might  be  fastened  to  a  hoop,  and 
the  whole  capped  by  a  tin  or  wooden  cover,  like  that  of  a 
lard  pail  or  a  berry  box.  The  best  support  is  a  slim  pole. 

Serviceable  dwellings  for  birds  may  be  made  of  the  shells 
of  gourds.  Seedsmen  advertise  the  seed,  and  any  one  can 
grow  gourds.  Squashes,  even,  may  be  utilized.  The  hard- 
shelled,  old-fashioned  winter  crook-neck  would  make  a  stout 
castle  for  a  Bluebird  or  a  Martin. 

Four  old  shingles  and  two  pieces  of  old  board  will  make 
a  box  like  that  shown  in  Fig.  1(57.  This  may  be  nailed  up 
in  a  tall  tree  near  the  house,  or  on  a  building.  It  must  be 
out  of  reach  of  cats,  or  the  young  are  likely  to  be  clawed  out 
of  the  hole  by  these  stealthy  marauders.  To  checkmate  the 
cat,  a  much  deeper  box  may  be  made,  with  a  small,  high- 
placed  round  hole  for  the  entrance,  and  a  sloping,  overhang- 
ing roof,  which  helps  to  keep  out  both  water  and  cats.  (See 
Plate  XLVII,  Fig.  4.)  There  is  another  advantage  in  a 
box  of  this  pattern.  The  young  birds  find  it  rather  hard  to 
get  out  of  such  a  box  at  first.  Thev  have  to  make  many 
attempts,  and  when  they  finally  escape  they  are  quite  strong 


Fig.  166. —  Birch- 
bark  nesting  box, 
for  Chickadees. 


392 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


and  less  likely  to  be  caught  by  cats,  Crows,  or  snakes  than 
they  would  be  if  reared  in  a  box  from  which  they  could  get 
out  before  they  were  fully  fledged. 

For  practical  utility  a  nesting  box  should  not  only  provide 
the  birds  with  an  acceptable  nesting  site,  but  it  should  also 
furnish  them  perfect  protection  from  the  elements  and  their 
larger  enemies,  and  should  be  so  made 
that  the  interior  can  be  quickly  examined 
and  the  contents  removed,  if  necessary. 
The  roof  or  cover  should  be  hinged  or 
made  to  take  off,  so  that  if  any  young 
bird  fails  to  get  out  it  may  be  liber- 
ated ;  while  if  undesirable  tenants,  such 
as  mice,  Sparrows,  or  squirrels,  get  in, 
they  may  be  ousted.  The  box  is  much 
more  satisfactory  as  a  protective  device 
if  made  so  strong  that  neither  Wood- 
peckers nor  squirrels  can  easily  enlarge 
the  entrance  sufficiently  to  allow  ene- 
mies of  the  occupants  to  get  in.  All 
these  essentials  may  be  secured  without 
expense  by  using  worn-out  or  discarded 
utensils  or  receptacles. 

An  empty  tomato  can  may  in  a  few 
minutes  be  made  into  a  nesting  box  by 
slitting  the  tin  of  the  opened  end  twice 
and  turning  down  the  piece  between  the  slits,  thereby  mak- 
ing a  hole  not  over  an  inch  wide  and  high.  It  can  be  put  up 
very  quickly  by  placing  the  bottom  of  the  can  against  a  tree 
trunk  and  nailing  it  there  with  two  wire  nails  driven  diago- 
nally through  the  edge,  or  by  fastening  it  to  a  piece  of  board 
or  a  pole,  which  can  be  attached  to  a  tree  or  building.  The 
cover  may  be  kept  in  place  by  pinching  the  mouth  of  the  can 
a  little.  The  tomato  can  box  is  shown  in  Plate  XLVIII. 
This  is  a  practical  box  for  Wrens,  and  it  may  be  used  by 
Bluebirds  if  the  entrance  is  made  larger. 

When  holes  are  cut  through  tin,  the  sharp  edges  round  the 
opening  should  be  turned  over  with  a  pair  of  pliers,  that  the 
birds  may  not  injure  themselves  in  going  in  or  out.  Rusty 


Fig.  167. -Shingle  box, 
lor  Bluebirds. 


PLATE  XLVIIL  —  Inexpensive  Nesting  Boxes.    Tomato  can.  Bluebird  box, 
old  teakettle,  peach  can.  O\vl  box,  and  kerosene  can. 


PLATE  XLIX.  —  Chickadee  about  to  enter  its  Nest,  in  an  Old  Varnish  Can. 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  393 

or  painted  tin  is  best,  for  birds  seem  suspicious  of  bright 
surfaces.  There  should  be  a  few  nail  holes  in  the  lower  side, 
to  allow  the  escape  of  any  water  that  may  drive  in. 

A  large  funnel  may  be  nailed  to  a  piece  of  board,  and  the 
board  fastened  on  the  side  of  the  barn  ;  or  the  funnel  itself 
may  be  fastened  to  the  building.  This  may  be  used  by  a 
Wren  or  a  Chickadee.  (See  Plate  XL VII,  Fig.  5.)  An  old 
coffee  pot  may  be  set  upon  a  post,  or  fastened  to  a  bracket 
which  may  be  set  against  the  side  of  a  building.  Milk  cans, 
lard  pails,  flower  pots,  teakettles,  and  many  other  utensils 
may  be  utilized,  and  fastened  up  in  various  ways  to  trees  or 
buildings  ;  and,  although  they  may  not  be  ornate,  the  birds 
will  find  them  useful.  There  should  be  no  projection  or  limb 
immediately  beneath  a  nesting  box,  to  give  cat  or  Crow  a 
foothold  from  which  to  reach  into  the  nest ;  but  it  is  always 
better  to  have  a  small  limb  or  stick,  as  a  perch,  within  a  few 
feet,  to  serve  as  a  rest  for  the  parent  birds.  Small  wooden 
boxes,  such  as  may  be  found  at  the  stores,  if  not  over  six  by 
eight  by  fifteen  inches,  may  be  used.  Those  who  have  time 
and  lumber  to  spare  may  make  bird  houses  of  any  shape  tq 
suit  their  tastes ;  but  a  few  suggestions  as  to  construction 
and  situation  will  not  be  out  of  place. 

If  one  wishes  to  accommodate  only  a  certain  species  of 
bird,  the  entrance  to  the  nesting  box  should  be  made  so  small 
that  no  larger  bird  can  enter.  Boxes  made  on  this  principle 
for  small  birds  will  protect  the  eggs  and  young  from  Crows 
and  Jays.  A  round  hole  one  and  one-fourth  inches  in  di- 
ameter will  do  for  either  Wrens  or  Chickadees  ;  but  a  Wren 
can  use  a  smaller  opening,  just  the  size  of  a  silver  twenty-five- 
cent  piece,  and  such  a  doorway  is  small  enough  to  keep  out 
'f  English"  Sparrows.  The  Chickadee  can  use  a  one  and  one- 
eighth  inch  hole,  but  some  will  not  be  content  with  one  less 
than  one  and  one-fourth  inches  in  diameter.  Bluebirds  and 
Tree  Swallows  can  pass  through  a  one  and  one-half  inch  aper- 
ture. This  is  usually  large  enough,  and  will  keep  out  Jays. 
The  two-inch  hole  usually  recommended  is  too  large,  for  it 
will  admit  both  Martins  and  squirrels.  These  entrances  may 
be  round,  square,  or  oblong.  If  made  oblong,  the  measure- 
ments given  should  be  used  horizontally,  the  vertical  diame- 


394  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


ter  being  made  a  little  larger.  The  Flicker  will  sometimes 
enter  a  knothole,  only  two  and  one-half  inches  in  diameter, 
in  an  old  apple  tree ;  but  if  so  small  an  opening  is  made  in 
a  box  put  up  for  this  bird,  it  may  not  use  it.  For  a  Flicker 
or  a  Screech  Owl  the  entrance  should  be  made  at  least  three 
or  three  and  one-half  inches  in  diameter. 

In  making  boxes  of  the  form  illustrated  as  the  cat-proof 
box  (Plate  XL VII,  Fig.  4),  the  following  inside  dimensions 
are  sufficient.  Boxes  for  Wrens  or  Chickadees  may  be  made 
twelve  by  four  by  five  inches,  with  the  entrance  hole  close 
to  the  top.  They  may  be  placed  from  six  to  twenty-five 
feet  from  the  ground.1  A  perch  is  not  necessary.  Boxes  for 
Flickers  are  best  if  made  from  hollow  limbs  or  covered  with 
bark.  These  birds  do  not  need  perches.  If  limbs  with  the 
bark  on  are  used,  they  should  be  cut  in  late  summer,  autumn, 
or  early  winter,  when  the  bark  will  adhere.  A  box  for  a 
Flicker  may  be  eight  by  ten  by  fifteen  inches,  and  should  be 
placed  from  six  to  twenty-five  feet  up.  A  similar  box  twelve 
inches  square  and  fifteen  high  would  be  ample  for  a  family 
of  Screech  Owls.2  A  box  twelve  by  five  by  six  inches  is 
ample  for  Swallows  or  Bluebirds,  and  should  be  placed  from 
twelve  to  thirty  feet  from  the  ground.  Swallows  and  Blue- 
birds like  perches.  The  long  diameter  of  the  box  should 
be  from  front  to  back.  The  sitting  bird  will  then  face  the 
entrance,  —  a  good  position  for  defence.  A  single  tene- 
ment will  accommodate  a  family  of  Martins,  but  a  colony 
of  these  birds  should  be  secured,  if  possible. 

Some  writers  have  recommended  putting  up  boxes  with 
the  entrance  facing  the  east  or  north.  This  may  be  right  in 

1  The  distances  from  the  ground  as  given  here  are  not  arbitrary.    I  have  known 
the  Chickadee,  for  instance,  to  nest  at  different  heights,  from  two  to  fifty-five 
feet  from  the  ground. 

2  This  size  of  box  is  probably  none  too  large  for  the  Screech  Owl,  as  three  or 
four  young  birds  soon  render  the  edges  of  the  nest  very  filthy,  and  on  this  ac- 
count probably  require  extra  room.     Nevertheless,  a  pair  of  Screech  Owls  at  our 
home  in  Wareham  reared  a  brood  of  four  young  in  the  grocery  box  shown  in  the 
upper  figure  on  Plate  XLVIII.    Allowing  the  birds  to  be  the  best  judges  of  what 
they  want,  the  dimensions  of  this  box,  seven  by  eleven  by  fifteen  inches,  and  the 
size  of  the  entrance,  three  by  four  inches,  may  be  useful  to  those  who  wish  to  at- 
tract this  bird.    It  was  noted  that  during  the  daytime,  at  least,  the  mother  Owl  in 
this  box  always  sat  with  her  head  away  from  the  entrance,  and  in  the  darkest 
corner,  —  an  incubating  position  sometimes  assumed  by  the  day  birds  that  nest 
in  boxes. 


PLATE  L.  — Owl  Box,  at  Author's  Home.  The  front  has  been  removed, 
and  the  mother  lifted  to  show  the  downy  young.  (Photograph,  from 
life,  by  C.  Allan  Lyford.) 


PLATE  LI.  —  Owl  on  Nest.  This  view,  taken  later,  shows  growth  of  young, 
and  also  feathers  of  Blue  Jays  killed  by  Owl.  (Photograph,  from  life,  by 
C.  Allan  Lyford.) 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS. 


395 


Europe  or  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  but  it  is  unsafe 
here,  where  our  severest  rainstorms  come  from  the  north- 
east. The  entrance  should  face  the  south  or  west,  wherever 
possible.  It  is  also  best  to  have  boxes,  especialljr  tin  ones, 
so  situated  that  they  will  be  shaded  by  trees  or  buildings 


Fig1.  168.  — Chickadees  feeding  their  voting  in  an  ohservation  box  at  the  author's 
window.     (From  Reed's  American  Ornithology.) 

during  the  hotter  part  of  the  day.  By  these  precautions 
we  may  guard  against  the  danger  of  having  the  young  birds 
wet  and  chilled  by  cold  storms  or  overheated  by  the  sun. 
In  very  hot  weather  young  birds  in  unshaded  boxes  some- 
times die  from  excessive  heat. 

Those  who  wish  to  study  the  domestic  affairs  of  birds  may 
construct  an  observation  box  with  a  door  on  one  side,  back 
of  which  a  pane  of  glass  is  set.  Such  a  bird  house  may  be 
set  up  on  a  window  sill,  so  that  by  opening  the  door  the  feed- 
ing and  care  of  the  young  birds  may  be  watched  through  the 


396 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


glass.     I  have  often  thus  watched  Bluebirds  and  Chickadees 
feeding  their  young. 

Thus  far  it  has  been  my  intention  to  show  how  expense  may 
be  avoided  in  the  construction  of  nesting  boxes.  Neverthe- 
less, expensive  ornamental  bird  houses  add  to  the  attractive- 
ness of  a  country  home,  and  may  be  displayed  where  old  tin 

cans  and  cheap  boxes 
would  be  out  of  place. 
In  building  such  bird 
houses  the  best  plan  is 
to  imitate  the  design 
of  some  dwelling.  A 
pretty  cottage  or  a 
country  villa  may  be 
constructed  in  minia- 
ture. The  large  bird 
houses  sometimes  made 
are  highly  ornamental ; 
but  most  of  our  native 
species  are  not  social  in 
their  nesting  habits,  and 
when  a  large  house  is  put  up  it  is  likely  to  be  occupied  either 
by  a  single  pair  of  birds  or  by  Purple  Martins  or  House 
Sparrows.  Such  houses  are  sometimes  occupied  by  both 
Martins  and  Sparrows,  but  in  such  cases  the  Sparrows  usu- 
ally in  the  end  drive  out  the  Martins.  If  the  Sparrows  can  be 
driven  away,  there  is  no  bird  that  can  be  so  readily  increased 
in  numbers  by  putting  up  nesting  boxes  as  can  the  Purple 
Martin.  When  once  a  colony  of  Martins  becomes  estab- 
lished, it  will  in  a  few  years  fill  several  large  bird  houses 
with  its  increase.  The  experience  of  Mr.  J.  Warren  Jacobs, 
who  established  a  large  colony,  illustrates  this.1  A  few  Mar- 
tins are  returning  to  some  of  their  old  homes  in  this  State  ; 
they  should  be  encouraged.  The  houses  should  be  either 
taken  down  in  fall  and  not  put  up  until  the  Martins  return 
in  spring,  or  the  entrances  to  the  rooms  should  be  closed  up 
until  spring,  that  the  Sparrows  may  have  no  opportunity  to 
get  in  before  the  Martins  return.  Were  the  Sparrows  de- 

1  The  Story  of  a  Martin  Colony,  by  J.  Warren  Jacobs,  Waynesburg,  Pa. 


Fig.  169.  —  A  Martin  box. 


THE  PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  397 

stroyed  and  more  Martin  boxes  put  up,  we  might  have,  in 
time,  more  Martins  than  ever.1  A  house  for  a  large  Martin 
colony  ordinarily  involves  the  expenditure  of  a  considerable 
sum  ;  but  a  very  good  house,  that  will  accommodate  a  colony 
of  ordinary  size,  may  be  made  from  a  flour  barrel.  The  roof 
is  of  zinc,  or  of  wood  covered  with  painted  canvas.  The 
Martin  house  should  be  placed  on  a  pole  at  least  fifteen  to 
twenty  feet  high.  It  should  have  sev- 
eral large  rooms,  with  entrances  two  to 
three  inches  in  diameter,  that  it  may 
provide  room  enough  for  several  pairs 
of  birds,  and  that  each  tenement  may  be 
readily  inspected  and  cleaned  when  nec- 
essary, and  the  whole  house  should  be 
painted  in  light  colors,  that  the  young 
birds  may  not  suffer  too  much  from  the 
rays  of  the  hot  sun.  It  should  be  so 
constructed  that  the  young  birds  may 
not  be  readily  crowded  out  of  the  nest, 
and  so  become  the  prey  of  cats.  Such  a  pig.  ITO.-A  Mai-tin 
catastrophe  may  be  guarded  against  by  barrel, 

having  a  shelf  or  piazza  extending  round  the  house  beneath 
each  tier  of  doorways,  and  constructing  a  railing  at  least 
three  inches  high  round  the  platform.  Each  of  these  plat- 
forms should  have  a  slight  downward  pitch,  to  carry  off  the 
rain  and  prevent  it  from  driving  into  the  doorways  below. 
There  should  be  no  brackets  beneath  the  box,  for  they  afford 
the  cat  a  foothold.  Many  other  designs  will  suggest  them- 
selves. A  barrel  might  be  covered  and  roofed  with  bark  and 
the  railings  made  of  twigs.  In  fitting  up  the  rooms,  a  square 
box  should  first  be  made,  to  go  up  the  center  of  the  barrel. 

1  An  attempt  might  be  made  to  establish  the  Martins  by  bringing  here  in  the 
night  from  other  States  bird  houses  occupied  by  Martins,  young  and  old,  and 
setting  them  up  on  poles  prepared  for  them  in  suitable  localities  here.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  such  introductions  would  succeed  if  carefully  conducted 
when  the  young  had  made  about  half  their  growth.  One  successful  attempt  is 
on  record.  There  is  a  plentiful  supply  of  food  here  for  Swallows  and  Martins. 
The  increase  of  mosquitoes  and  flies  in  many  localities  since  the  summer  of  1903, 
when  so  many  of  these  birds  were  destroyed,  has  attracted  wide  attention.  The 
reinstatement  of  the  Martins  is  an  important  matter,  which  should  engage  the 
attention  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture. 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


All  the  rooms  will  be  backed  by  this,  and  the  pole  will  go 
into  it.  The  pole  may  be  made  to  go  into  a  socket  in  the 
ground,  and  then  both  pole  and  house  may  be  taken  down 
in  the  fall  and  kept  under  shelter  until  the  Martins  return  in 
the  spring ;  or,  if  the  pole  is  hinged  near  the  bottom,  the 
box  may  be  still  more  readily  taken  indoors.  This  will 
prevent  the  Sparrows  from  intrenching  themselves  within. 
If  a  cedar  pole  is  used,  the  bottom  should  be  well  tarred 
wherever  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  ground.  It  should 
be  set  deep  in  the  ground  to  give  it  the  requisite  firmness. 
If  the  nests  of  Martins  are  dusted  occasionally  with  fresh 
insect  powder,  it  will  relieve  them  of  the  vermin  which 
always  congregate  in  large,  occupied  bird  houses. 

Furnishing  Nesting  Material. 

An  abundance  of  suitable  and  easily  accessible  nesting 
material  may  chiefly  influence  some  birds  in  choosing  a  site 
for  a  home. 

It  is  now  believed  that  the  Parula  Warbler  breeds  only 
where  the  usnea  moss  grows  luxuriantly,  for  in  this  moss  she 
usually  secretes  her  nest,  constructing  it  largely  of  the  same 
material.  Robins,  Swallows,  and  Phcebes  must  have  mud  for 
nest  building.  The  Chipping  Sparrow  lines  her  nest  with 
hair,  usually  that  of  the  horse,  cow,  or  deer.  Vireos  and 
Orioles  must  have  hair  or  strands  of  some  kind  to  construct 
the  pendent  fabrics  which  they  skillfully  weave.  If  we  hang 
nesting  materials  on  bushes,  trees,  or  fences,  or  place  them 
on  the  ground  in  the  open,  where  birds  will  be  in  no  danger 
from  cats  while  securing  them,  this  may  prove  to  be  'the  final 
"straw"  which  will  decide  several  pairs  of  birds  to  nest  on 
our  premises.  Such  supplies,  when  watched,  furnish  ready 
means  of  tracing  the  nest  builders  to  their  nests.  We  can 
then  take  means  to  protect  the  nests  from  marauders.  Root- 
lets, fibers  of  birch,  cedar  or  grape  vine  bark,  straw,  fine 
hay,  hair,  feathers,  thread,  twine,  rope  yarn,  jute,  sphag- 
num moss, — all  will  serve  a  purpose.  It  is  important  to 
furnish  twine,  hemp,  yarn,  or  some  similar  material  for  the 
Orioles  ;  otherwise  they  may  get  it  by  tearing  to  pieces  the 
nests  of  other  birds  which  have  used  such  materials.  In 


THE  PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  399 

dry  weather  we  may  provide  mud  for  Robins,  Swallows,  and 
Phcebes  to  use.  At  such  a  time  a  Robin  has  been  seen  to 
wet  its  feathers  and  then  trail  them  in  the  dust  to  make  mud 
for  its  nest.  Put  a  pan  of  mud  or  clay  on  the  window  shelf, 
and  see  if  the  birds  do  not  find  it.  All  other  nesting  mate- 
rial should  be  exposed  constantly  from  April  to  August. 

Feeding  the  Summer  Birds. 

The  food  table  or  window  shelf  should  be  supplied  with 
food  all  summer.  It  may  help  out  some  bird  when  in  times 
of  storm  or  temporary  scarcity  it  can  hardly  find  sufficient 
food  for  its  young.  \Ve  can  make  feeding  experiments  with 
grains  and  seeds,  nuts  and  fruits,  cooked  foods,  cereals,  bread, 
and  cake.  There  should  be  some  food  at  hand  for  insect- 
eating  birds  and  their  young,  that  we  may  teach  them  to 
trust  us.  Taming  an  old  bird  in  summer  is  usually  up-hill 
work;  but  now  and  then  a  Catbird  or  Robin,  more  confid- 
ing than  the  rest,  may  learn  to  come  to  be  fed  or  even  take 
food  from  the  hand.  Practically  all  birds  will  eat  hairless 
caterpillars,  such  as  the  cankerworms  ;  most  of  them  are 
fond  of  grasshoppers  and  meal  worms.  We  may  now  and 
then  find  it  necessary  to  feed  some  young  birds,  when  cold 
storms  cut  short  the  natural  food  supply. 

Occasionally  a  young  bird  jumps  or  falls  from  the  nest  be- 
fore it  is  full-fiedged  and  strong.  Such  birds  are  likely  to  fall 
a  prey  to  cats,  snakes,  or  Crows  ;  but  we  may  be  able  to  save 
them  by  a  little  care  or  a  few  days'  feeding.  It  will  not  do 
to  return  the  young  fledgeling  to  the  nest,  as  usually  it  will 
not  stay  there.  If  the  weather  is  warm  and  the  parents  are 
at  hand,  the  youngster  may  now  be  put  in  a  cage  with  an  oil 
cloth  cover  over  its  top,  and  the  cage  hung  on  the  branch  of 
a  tree  near  the  nest,  where  the  parents  sometimes  will  feed 
the  fledgeling  through  the  bars.  It  can  be  watched  a  little, 
taken  in,  and  kept  very  warm  for  a  few  nights,  when  it  may 
be  allowed  to  go  with  the  rest  of  the  brood.  If  the  parent 
birds  are  dead  or  have  deserted  the  helpless  young,  it  will  be 
something  of  a  task  to  supply  by  hand  the  wants  of  the 
young  birds,  as  they  need  feeding  often  during  daylight, 
and  should  be  fed  about  all  they  will  eat.  Grasshoppers  and 


400  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


hairless  caterpillars,  with  chopped  lean  meat  and  a  few  earth- 
worms cut  up,  will  make  a  good  substitute  for  the  natural 
food.  Those  who  wish  to  experiment  in  this  way  should 
read  the  chapter  on  taming  and  feeding  birds  in  Nature  Study 
and  Life,  by  Prof.  C.  F.  Hodge.  They  may  thereby  avoid 
mistakes,  save  much  trouble,  and  prevent  a  useless  sacrifice 
of  bird  life. 

Our  experience  in  attracting  Bluebirds,  Wrens,  and 
Chickadees  about  the  house  by  means  of  food  and  nesting 
boxes  proves  conclusively  that  we  may  easily  domesticate 
these  birds.  Our  experiments  with  the  Chickadee  will  serve 
to  illustrate -how  a  species  may  be  induced  to  leave  its  nest- 
ing places  TO  the-  woods  to  nest  and  live  about  dwellings 
and  under  man's  protection.  We  first  cut  down  all  the  de- 
caying trees  near  the  house,  leaving  the  birds  neither  dead 
wood  in  which  to  make  holes,  nor  natural  hollows  in  which 
to  find  shelter,  —  but  not  before  we  had  put  up  artificial  nest- 
ing boxes  on  the  house  and  on  the  near-by  trees.  This  was 
done  in  the  fall,  that  the  birds  might  become  accustomed  to 
the  change  before  another  nesting  season,  and  that  they  might 
find  shelter  in  the  boxes  during  the  cold  winter  nights.  It 
seems  remarkable  that  Chickadees  which  naturally  breed  in 
decayed  stumps  or  hollow  trees  should  come  to  seek  the 
shelter  of  old  tin  cans  in  winter ;  but  eventually  they  did  so, 
going  early  to  these  shelters,  and  nestling  together  there  in 
company  for  mutual  protection  from  the  cold. 

In  the  mean  time,  food  was  put  out  near  the  house  win- 
dows, where  nesting  boxes  had  been  put  up.  In  the  spring 
a  single  pair  of  Chickadees  nested  and  reared  seven  young 
in  a  wooden  box  fastened  to  a  window  sill.  The  next  year 
two  pairs  reared  young  in  boxes  within  two  rods  of  each 
other ;  one  was  on  the  house,  the  other  in  an  apple  tree  near 
by.  The  present  year  ( 190(i)  three  pairs  have  reared  young, 
and  two  of  them  have  successfully  brought  off  two  broods 
each.  In  1905  a  pair  accepted  a  wad  of  cotton  placed  in  a 
box,  dug  out  a  hollow  in  it,  and  reared  young  there.  This 
nesting  box  is  situated  upon  a  window  frame  three  feet  from 
an  outside  kitchen  door.  The  illustration  (Plate  LIII)  shows 
the  bird  and  her  nest. 


PLATE    LII.  —  Chickadee's  Nest,  made  of  Cotton,  in 
Box  on  Author's  Window. 


PLATE    LIII.  —  Chickadee  on  Nest. 


PLATE  LI V.  — Mother  Chickadee  bringing  Food  to  Young. 


PLATE    LV.  — Mother  Chickadee  cleaning  Nest. 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  401 

An  incident  occurred  in  connection  with  this  box  which 
shows  how  easily  birds  may  be  induced  to  occupy  a  nest- 
ing site,  and  what  influence  an  ample  food  supply  may  have 
in  deciding  them.  Two  Chickadees  came  to  the  box  in  the 
spring  of  1906,  and  went  in  and  out  of  it  for  several  days, 
but  finally  seemed  to  be  dissatisfied,  and  went  away.  A  few 
days  later  a  piece  of  suet  was  fastened  to  the  window  sill. 
Within  twenty-four  hours  the  birds  found  it.  They  visited 
it  frequently,  and  at  once  began  carrying  nesting  material 
into  the  box.  A  supply  of  suet  was  kept  there,  and  two 
broods  were  reared  in  that  box.  The  old  birds  fed  on  the 
suet  often  when  hard  pressed  to  fill  the  nine  hungry  mouths 
in  the  nest ;  but  even  then  the  young  were  fed  on  insects. 

The  Chickadees  did  not  utilize  a  tin  can  for  nesting  pur- 
poses until  1904,  when,  during  a  call  on  a  neighbor,  I  saw 
two  Chickadees  looking  his  house  over  in  search  of  a  nest- 
ing place.  I  called  his  attention  to  them,  and  he  expressed 
a  wish  for  a  bird  house.  I  took  an  old  two-quart  can  from 
the  dump,  made  a  wooden  stopper  for  it,  cut  a  small  hole  in 
the  stopper,  and  nailed  the  can  up  in  the  nearest  tree.  The 
Chickadees  examined  it,  and  within  twenty  minutes  began 
building.  Here  they  safely  reared  a  brood.  Evidently  they 
preferred  a  wooden  doorway  to  their  castle,  but  since  then 
they  have  learned  to  dispense  with  the  wood. 

The  next  summer  my  neighbor,  Mr.  Lewis  E.  Carr,  wired 
up  in  a  pine  near  his  house  an  old  varnish  can  that  the  boys 
had  somewhat  distended  during  their  annual  Fourth  of  July 
celebration.  The  Chickadees  took  up  their  quarters  in  it 
at  once,  and  also  nested  in  it  in  1906.  This  can  and  its 
bird  occupant  are  shown  in  Plate  XLIX.  Chickadees  now 
occupy  at  least  three  cans  of  various  sizes  and  descriptions. 
They  seem  to  prefer  those  that  are  put  up  on  or  near  houses. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that,  were  it  not  for  the  in- 
troduction of  the  House  Sparrow,  several  useful  native  birds 
might  easily  be  induced  to  breed  about  our  houses,  and  even 
in  the  cities,  as  familiarly  as  the  Sparrow  now  does. 


402  USEFUL   B1RUS. 


Attracting  Water-fowl. 

The  water-fowl  have  been  hunted  until  they  have  become  so 
wild  that  attracting  them  seems  at  first  sight  an  utterly  hope- 
less task.  Nevertheless,  it  can  be  accomplished  if  only  a  place 
can  be  found  where  the}'  may  rest  and  feed  unmolested.  Wild 
Ducks  soon  learn  where  they  are  safe.  Along  the  water  front 
at  Titusville,  Fla.,  no  shooting  is  allowed,  but  out  on  the  river 
gunning  is  not  prohibited.  About  the  wharves  and  along 
the  beach  at  the  hotel  wild  Scaup  Ducks  swim,  dive,  and 
dress  their  plumage  as  unconcernedly  as  if  there  were  not  a 
man  in  sight.  They  sometimes  come  ashore  and  walk  about 
on  the  grass  near  the  hotel.  They  swim  at  ease  among  the 
small  craft  at  the  wharves,  and  act  much  like  domesticated 
Ducks  ;  but  when  the  same  birds  get  out  on  the  river  beyond 
the  dead  line,  they  can  hardly  be  approached  within  gunshot 
by  a  fast-sailing  boat.  Wild-fowl,  if  undisturbed,  will  settle 
in  the  most  unlikely  places.  A  pair  of  Wood  Ducks  came 
regularly  to  a  small  pool  in  the  grove  not  far  from  our  house, 
until  disturbed  by  Avorkmen  passing  b}'.  Those  who  have 
large  estates  containing  ponds,  where  Ducks  can  be  protected, 
may  attract  them  by  scattering  grain  in  the  water  and  on  the 
shores.  This  has  been  successfully  tried.  A  few  "gray  call 
Ducks"  will  prove  an  additional  attraction.  If  the  pond  or 
stream  has  wooded  shores,  an  attempt  should  be  made  to 
induce  the  Wood  Ducks  to  breed.  This  may  be  done  by  put- 
ting up  nesting  boxes.  One  reason  for  the  present  scarcity 
of  Wood  Ducks  in  this  portion  of  New  England  is,  that  sum- 
mer camps  are  now  established  on  many  of  the  ponds  where 
these  birds  formerly  bred.  Another  reason  is,  that  there  are 
few  hollow  trees  in  which  they  can  breed.  People  having 
suitably  located  woodlands  should  put  up  nesting  boxes  made 
in  imitation  of  hollow  logs,  for  the  Wood  Ducks.  A  box  for 
these  birds  should  be  at  least  two  feet  long.  It  may  be 
placed  either  perpendicularly  or  at  an  acute  angle,  and  fastened 
not  far  from  the  ground  on  a  tree  near  the  water.  It  should 
have  an  opening  at  least  four  inches  in  diameter.  Everything 
possible  should  be  done  to  prevent  the  extermination  of  this 
beautiful  bird,  and  to  secure  an  increase  in  its  numbers. 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  403 


THE   PROTECTION   OF   BIRDS    AGAINST   THEIR    NATURAL 
ENEMIES. 

Those  who  are  successful  in  assembling  birds  about  their 
homes  are  likely  soon  to  find  that  they  have  also  inadvert- 
ently attracted  creatures  to  prey  upon  them.  When  our 
winter  colony  of  birds  was  at  the  height  of  its  numbers,  in 
January,  11)03,  it  was  noticed  that  the  birds  were  growing 
nervous  and  easily  frightened.  Soon  one  was  seen  to  be 
minus  a  tail.  Then  their  numbers  began  to  decrease.  An 
investigation  revealed  the  cause,  —  two  cats  and  a  Sharp- 
shinned  Hawk.  One  day  during  mv  absence  the  Hawk 
struck  a  Blue  Jay  within  twenty  feet  of  the  window.  If  we 
expect  to  conserve  our  small  native  land  birds  and  increase 
their  numbers,  something  more  becomes  necessary  than 
protection  from  the  gunner,  the  small  boy,  or  the  milliner's 
agent ;  for  in  woods  where  all  shooting  is  prohibited  the 
enemies  of  birds,  particularly  Hawks,  squirrels,  Crows,  and 
Jays,  are  likely  to  increase  in  numbers,  while  the  smaller 
birds  decrease.  This  was  the  case  in  the  Middlesex  Fells 
Reservation,  soon  after  the  Metropolitan  Park  Commission 
took  it.  Four  years'  experience  on  my  own  place  in  protect- 
ing birds  from  gunners  resulted  in  a  very  decided  increase 
in  the  numbers  of  squirrels,  Crows,  and  Jays,  and  a  corre- 
sponding decrease  among  the  smaller  birds.  Apparently  less 
than  ten  per  cent,  of  the  smaller  birds  raised  any  young  in 
1902.  During  a  long  stay  on  the  estate  of  Mr.  William 
Brewster,  at  Concord,  Mass.,  in  the  breeding  season  of  1903, 
it  became  evident  to  me  that  the  numbers  of  the  smaller  birds 
breeding  in  his  woods  had  decreased  much  in  the  previous 
six  years.  No  shooting  had  been  allowed  for  several  years 
on  this  estate  of  nearly  three  hundred  acres.  The  owner  had 
protected  the  game  and  birds  from  destruction  bv  man  ;  but 
the  results,  so  far  as  some  of  the  smaller  wood  birds  were  con- 
cerned, were  disappointing.  The  Wood  Thrushes  nearly  all 
disappeared.  Where  there  had  been  five  pairs  of  Redstarts 
breeding  a  few  years  before,  only  one  pair  was  seen  in  1903, 
and  they  disappeared  later.  Comparatively  few  birds  were 
able  to  rear  their  broods  that  year,  except  the  Robins  and 


404  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


other  birds  that  nested  near  the  house,  the  ground-nesting 
birds,  and  those  that  bred  in  nesting  boxes  or  hollow  trees. 
Crows  and  Jays  were  common,  though  not  increasing  rapidly, 
and  both  Cooper's  and  Sharp-shinned  Hawks  were  present 
(probably  only  one  pair  of  each) .  Squirrels  of  three  species 
were  more  numerous  than  I  have  ever  seen  them  elsewhere. 
Since  that  year  the  number  of  birds  about  the  house  seems 
to  have  increased.  This  may  be  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that 
the  Cooper's  Hawk  no  longer  breeds  on  the  place  ;  also,  that 
the  squirrels  about  the  house  do  not  molest  the  birds  much, 
while  many  birds  have  been  attracted  by  food  plants  and 
nesting  boxes. 

When  it  is  found,  on  prohibiting  shooting  within  certain 
limits,  that  the  smaller  birds  are  decreasing,  we  may  infer 
that  they  are  preyed  upon  by  creatures  that  were  formerly 
held  in  check  by  gunners.  If  this  be  true,  then  neither  the 
gunners  nor  the  sportsmen  need  be  looked  upon  as  the  un- 
mixed evil  that  some  of  us  have  been  inclined  to  consider 
them ;  and  the  farmer  who  has  no  time  to  protect  birds  may 
safely  allow  honorable  men  to  shoot  on  his  land.  Evidently 
the  bird  protectionist  may  be  forced  to  the  conclusion  that, 
in  order  to  protect  birds,  he  must  sometimes  destroy  some 
of  their  natural  enemies,  even  if  among  these  he  is  obliged 
to  kill  some  birds.  Hawks,  Crows,  Jays,  and  squirrels  have 
become  so  accustomed  to  the  persecutions  of  the  gunner 
that  they  are  able  in  a  sense  to  persist  in  nearly  normal 
numbers  in  spite  of  him  ;  and  when  we  eliminate  shooting, 
they  may  increase,  to  the  detriment  of  the  species  on  which 
they  prey.  In  a  biographical  notice  of  the  late  Henry  D. 
Minot  the  following  appears  :  "  On  the  home  grounds  from 
seventy-five  to  a  hundred  nests  were  built  every  spring,  and 
the  broods  therein  successfully  reared,  for  the  birds  were 
carefully  protected.  Cats,  Hawks,  gray  squirrels,  Crows, 
Jays,  and  snakes  were  summarily  dealt  with ;  every  note  of 
alarm  was  promptly  answered  with  an  efficient  rescue,  and 
all  the  spring  and  early  summer  the  air  was  filled  with  the 
melody  of  happy  birds." l 

1  The  Land  and  Game  Birds  of  New  England,  by  Henry  D.  Minot.  Second 
edition,  edited  by  William  Brewster. 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  405 

What  a  great  number  of  young  birds  must  have  gone  out 
into  the  world  from  that  place.  The  policy  pursued  by  Mr. 
Minot  may  serve  as  a  model  for  the  protection  of  a  colony 
of  small  birds,  and,  if  followed  faithfully  elsewhere,  it  ought 
to  have  the  same  gratifying  results.  Having  undertaken  a 
portion  of  the  management  of  creation  by  introducing  and  cul- 
tivating strange  plants  and  trees,  and  destroying  the  larger 
wild  animals  and  the  Eagles,  Hawks,  and  Owls  which  for- 
merly helped  to  keep  Crows,  Jays,  snakes,  squirrels,  and 
other  predatory  creatures  in  check,  we  must  not  now  shirk 
the  responsibility  that  rests  upon  us  to  protect  the  timid  and 
defenceless  birds  which  we  have  left  exposed  to  their  increas- 
ing enemies.  But,  if  we  accept  the  burden  of  protecting 
birds,  we  must  exercise  our  power  with  wise  discretion.  It 
should  not  be  inferred,  for  instance,  if  a  gray  squirrel  de- 
stroys the  young  of  a  pair  of  Robins,  that  this  is  a  habit  with 
all  gray  squirrels.  Those  who  have  large  estates,  on  which 
they  can  protect  birds  and  game,  are  particularly  fortunate 
if  they  have  in  their  employ  keepers  who  can  intelligently 
discriminate  in  such  matters ;  otherwise,  serious  mistakes 
may  be  made.  Millais,  in  his  magnificent  work  on  British 
surface-feeding  Ducks,  relates  that  in  1884  Brown-headed 
Gulls  began  to  increase  in  the  bog  at  Murthly.  The  keeper 
said  that  the  Gulls  were  killing  }Toung  Teal.  Another  ex- 
perienced keeper  suggested  that  this  was  probably  the  work 
of  a  single  Gull.  The  Gulls  were  watched,  a  pair  of  birds 
were  seen  together,  one  of  which  began  to  kill  ducklings. 
Both  birds  were  shot,  and  no  more  ducklings  were  killed  that 
year.  In  1890  another  pair  of  Gulls  began  killing  young 
Teal ;  sixteen  were  found  dead.  The  two  culprits  were  shot, 
and  no  more  young  Teal  were  killed  that  season.  Millais 
considers  that  individual  Gulls  are  as  dangerous  to  young 
Ducks  as  any  of  their  numerous  enemies  ;  and  yet  probably 
only  two,  or  at  the  most  four,  of  the  large  number  at  the  bog 
were  actually  doing  the  killing.1  Had  not  the  gamekeeper 
been  an  intelligent  observer,  a  hundred  innocent  Gulls  might 
have  been  shot,  and  the  guilty  birds  might  have  escaped  to 

1  Nevertheless,  observers  agree  that  the  habits'  of  bird-killing  and  egg-eating 
are  quite  general  among  certain  species  of  Gulls. 


40G  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


continue  their  nefarious  work  elsewhere.  Millais  confidently 
advances  the  theory  that  a  few  individual  birds  do  the  mis- 
chief for  which  perhaps  the  whole  race  is  blamed.  He  be- 
lieves that  the  individual  criminal  among  birds  does  his  work 
stealthily,  and  so  is  seldom  observed ;  that  his  family  is  fed 
on  the  results  of  his  rapacity  ;  and  that  the  young  acquire 
similar  tastes  and  habits,  which  in  time  may  spread  from 
family  to  family  and  from  one  community  to  another.  He 
states  that  years  ago  the  Rooks  of  southern  England  were 
practically  innocent  of  stealing  eggs  or  young  birds,  though 
their  cousins  in  the  north  were  nest-robbers  even  then.  He 
says  that  now  there  is  hardly  a  community  of  Eooks  in  the 
south  of  England  that  does  not  contain  individuals  with  the 
nest-robbing  habit.  The  view  that  certain  depraved  indi- 
viduals among  birds  and  mammals  are  responsible  for  most 
of  the  unusual  depredations  on  other  birds  and  mammals  is 
held  by  many  observers.  The  Marsh  Hawk  and  the  Red- 
shouldered  Hawk  are  among  the  most  useful  of  all  Hawks  ; 
but  I  have  known  individuals  of  both  these  species  to  be 
destructive  to  birds  or  young  poultry.  If  such  individuals 
can  be  shot,  it  will  be  a  decided  benefit  to  all  concerned. 

Where  Cooper's  and  Sharp-shinned  Hawks  cannot  be  shot, 
they  may  be  caught  by  setting  steel  traps  in  their  nests. 

It  is  quite  probable  that  some  Crows  do  not  habitually 
steal  the  eggs  and  young  of  other  birds.  In  fall,  winter, 
and  early  spring  we  may  welcome  Crows  about  our  farm 
buildings.  They  may  do  much  good  in  the  fields  in  summer, 
but,  as  a  measure  of  safety,  they  should  be  kept  as  far  away 
from  small  breeding  birds  as  possible.  Poison  will  kill  some 
and  drive  the  rest  away ;  but  exposing  poison  in  this  way  is 
illegal,  and  there  is  great  danger  of  poisoning  useful  birds. 
Egg-eating  Crows  may  be  trapped  by  exposing  an  egg  on 
the  ground  in  such  a  way  that  the  Crow  must  step  into  a 
concealed  trap  to  get  the  egg.  After  two  or  three  have 
been  caught  in  this  way,  the  others  will  avoid  the  place. 
Our  laws  which  deny  protection  to  the  Crow  are  wise,  for 
it  is  one  of  those  species  which,  though  at  times  most  useful, 
may  become  a  pest  if  not  held  severely  in  check. 

Watch  the  Jays,  and  shoot  every  one  that  is  found  dis- 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  407 

turhing  the  nests  of  other  birds.  The  actions  of  the  birds 
and  their  manner  toward  the  Jay  are  usually  sufficient  indica- 
tion of  its  character.  It  is  not  very  difficult  to  surprise  the 
Jay  in  its  raids. on  birds'  nests.  It  may  possibly  be  neces- 
sary now  and  then  to  kill  a  Crow  Blackbird  that  has  the 
nest-robbing  habit. 

Xo  native  bird  should  be  exterminated,  for  they  all  serve 
some  useful  purpose  ;  but  if  the  introduced  House  (or  ''  Eng- 
lish") Sparrow  could  be  exterminated,  one  of  the  chief  ob- 
stacles to  the  increase  of  native  birds  about  villages  and  cities 
would  be  removed.  This  is  now  a  hopeless  task  ;  but  much 
has  been  eifected  in  some  localities  by  feeding  the  birds  on 
poisoned  wheat.  Such  work,  however,  should  never  be  at- 
tempted except  by  skillful  and  experienced  persons,  as  other- 
wise there  is  much  danger  of  poisoning  poultry,  Pigeons,  and 
native  birds.  A  persistent  shooting  of  the  birds,  together 
with  the  continual  removing  of  their  eggs  from  all  nesting 
boxes,  will  eventually  drive  them  out  of  a  locality. 

All  who  desire  to  harbor  and  protect  birds  must  eliminate 
the  bird-killing  cat.  The  cat  is  of  some  service  in  prevent- 
ing the  increase  of  rats  and  mice  in  dwellings,  as  well  as  that 
of  other  small  rodents  of  the  fields  and  woods  ;  but  the  ver- 
min of  the  house  may  be  controlled  by  traps  and  poison, 
while  those  of  the  field  may  be  restrained  by  Hawks  and 
Owls.  A  ferret  will  in  a  short  time  drive  all  the  rats  from 
a  building.  A  smart  fox  terrier  or  a  good  "  ratter "  will 
practically  exterminate  the  rats  about  a  farmhouse.  As  the 
cat  is  not  an  absolute  necessity,  and  as  it  is  a  potent  carrier 
of  contagious  diseases,  wrhich  it  spreads,  particularly  among 
children,  it  would  be  far  better  for  the  community  if  most  of 
the  bird-killing  cats  now  roaming  at  large  could  be  painlessly 
disposed  of.  The  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 
Animals  has  added  another  to  its  long  list  of  good  works  by 
chloroforming  many  thousands  of  homeless  vagrant  cats  in 
the  cities.  The  Animal  Rescue  League  is  not  far  behind  in 
this  good  work,  which  ought  to  be  extended  farther  into  the 
country  districts.  Where  the  cat  is  deemed  necessary  in 
farm  or  village,  no  family  should  keep  more  than  one  good 
mouser,  which  should  never  be  allowed  to  have  its  liberty 


408  USEFUL   B1RU&. 

during  the  breeding  season  of  the  birds,  unless  it  has  been 
taught  not  to  kill  them.  Cats  can  be  confined  during  the 
day  in  outdoor  cages,  as  readily  as  rabbits,  and  given  the 
run  of  the  house  at  night.  Massachusetts  law  does  not 
give  the  cat  protection,  and  all  cats  found  running  at  large 
may  be  treated  as  wild  animals.  All  wild  or  "woods"  cats 
should  be  shot  at  sight.  Marauding  cats  may  be  trapped 
by  box  traps  baited  with  catnip,  and  held  for  the  owner,  or 
killed  if  no  owner  appears. 

Farmers  know  well  how  to  deal  with  foxes,  weasels,  minks, 
skunks,  and  raccoons.  They  regard  squirrels  as  pests  ;  but 
it  is  extremely  probable  that  it  is  only  the  individual  squir- 
rel that  robs  birds'  nests.  Mr.  A.  C.  Dike  writes  me  that 
one  season  when  he  was  carefully  watching  the  birds  about 
his  place  he  saw  the  eggs  and  young  in  eight  birds'  nests 
destroyed  by  the  red  squirrel ;  but  that  in  each  case  the 
same  squirrel  was  the  culprit,  for  he  was  able  to  identify  it, 
because  it  had  lost  a  part  of  its  tail  in  escaping  from  the 
cat.  Squirrels  often  nest  in  hollow  trees  in  which  birds  have 
already  established  themselves,  thus  driving  out  the  birds. 
It  is  quite  possible  that  in  some  localities  many  of  the  squir- 
rels may  have  acquired  the  habit  of  killing  birds.  AVhen  this 
is  evident  the  squirrels  should  be  killed.  Unfortunately,  the 
law  protects  gray  squirrels  at  the  only  time  when  this  habit 
can  be  observed.  Where  birds  show  no  alarm  when  squir- 
rels approach  their  nests,  the  presumption  is  that  the  squir- 
rels are  innocent.  The  beauty  and  grace  exhibited  in  the 
forms  and  motions  of  squirrels  have  made  them  favorites 
with  many  people,  who  will  not  wish  to  kill  them.  Others 
will  wish  to  avoid  killing  Crows,  Jays,  Hawks,  or  even  cats. 
But  all  should  regard  it  a  duty  to  protect  the  nests  of  birds 
from  these  marauders.  Some  experiments  in  this  direction 
have  been  made.  It  is  a  simple  matter,  as  has  been  described, 
to  protect  such  birds  as  will  build  in  nesting  boxes  ;  but  those 
that  nest  on  the  ground  are  peculiarly  liable  to  the  attacks 
of  their  enemies,  and  other  means  of  protecting  them  may 
possibly  be  devised. 

Years  ago  I  secured  a  translation  of  a  paper  published  in 
France  by  Xavier  Raspail,  entitled  "The  Protection  of  Use- 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  409 

ful  Birds,"  in  which  he  gives  a  method  of  protecting  their 
nests  from  their  enemies.  Of  sixty-seven  nests  observed 
from  April  to  August,  only  twenty-six  prospered.  Of  the 
forty-one  destroyed,  fifteen  were  known  to  have  been  robbed 
by  cats,  eight  by  the  garden  dormouse,  three  by  Jays,  and 
two  by  Magpies.  He  protected  twenty  nests  either  by  fur- 
nishing the  birds  vermin-proof  bird  boxes  to  build  in,  or 
by  surrounding  the  nests  with  wire  netting.  Only  two  of 
these  were  robbed  of  eggs  or  young,  and  they  were  pillaged 
by  animals  that  got  through  or  under  the  netting.  These 
simple  methods  of  protection  assured  the  rearing  of  one  hun- 
dred and  two  young  birds  from  nineteen  nests.  Comparing 
these  figures  with  those  from  the  unprotected  nests,  we  find 
that,  proportionately,  only  seven  pairs  of  parents  out  of  the 
twenty  Avould  have  succeeded  in  rearing  their  young  had 
their  homes  been  unprotected.  The  paper  lacks  a  complete 
description  of  the  method  of  putting  up  the  wire  nest  pro- 
tectors. There  is  nothing  to  show  whether  the  enclosure  was 
without  a  cover,  or  whether  an  opening1  was  left  in  the  top 
just  large  enough  to  admit  the  parent  birds  ;  but  the  mesh 
used  was,  in  some  cases  at  least,  small  enough  to  keep  out 
mice,  or  about  one-fifth  to  one-sixth  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 
The  language  used  seems  to  indicate  that  the  nests  on  the 
ground  were  merely  enclosed  by  a  circular  fence  of  wire 
netting.  Mons.  Raspail  says  that  nests  so  protected  are  not 
attacked  by  weasels  or  mice.  There  seems  to  be  nothing 
to  prevent  these  animals  from  climbing  over  the  wire,  except 
that  they  may  stupidly  strive  to  get  at  the  nest  from  below, 
and  so  walk  around  the  cage  without  seeking  an  entrance 
above.  The  sly  fox,  perceiving  the  smell  of  iron,  might  sus- 
pect a  trap.  Probably  Crows  and  Jays,  being  also  suspicious 
of  a  trap,  would  not  enter  these  enclosures.  The  surround- 
ing of  the  nests  with  netting  in  no  case  caused  the  birds  to 
desert  their  home,  even  when  it  was  done  as  soon  as  the  nest 
was  completed  and  before  the  eggs  were  laid.  This  method 
might  be  worth  a  trial. 

Where  nesting  trees  are  isolated,  cats  and  squirrels  may 
be  kept  out  of  them  by  the  use  of  either  of  the  devices  shown 
in  the  cut  (Fig.  171 ),  for  these  animals  cannot  climb  up  a  per- 


410 


USEFUL    BIRDS. 


fectly  smooth  surface.  Nesting  boxes  mounted  on  poles  may 
be  guarded  in  this  way.  Zinc  is  the  best  material.  A  wide 
piece  of  wire  netting,  shaped  like  a  hat  brim,  and  fastened 
around  a  tree,  will  prevent  cats  and  squirrels  from  climb- 
ing it.  A  smooth, 
tall,  slim  pole,  made 
of  a  peeled  sapling 
pine  set  in  the  open, 
is  rarely  climbed  by 
cats  or  squirrels. 

Thick  thorn  bushes 
often  serve  as  safe 
nesting  places  for 
birds.  Bundles  of 
thorny  sticks  tied 
around  tree  trunks 
will  keep  cats  out  of 
the  trees.  An  island 
in  a  small  artificial 
pond  is  also  a  refuge 
from  cats.  The  best 
cat-proof  fence  for  a  city  garden  is  that  used  by  Mr.  William 
Brewster  at  Cambridge.  It  is  made  of  wire  netting  some 
six  feet  in  height,  surmounted  by  a  fish  seine  of  heavy  twine, 
which  is  fastened  to  the  top  of  the  wire.  The  top  of  the  net  is 
then  looped  to  the  ends  of  long,  flexible  garden  stakes.  This 
fabric  gives  beneath  any  weight,  and  offers  so  unstable  a  foot- 
ing that  no  cat  ever  succeeds  in  scaling  it.  Mr.  Brewster's 
garden  has  become  famous  for  the  numbers  of  birds  that  breed 
there,  and  the  migrants  that  visit  it  year  by  year. 

THE  PROTECTION  OF  FARM  PRODUCTS  FROM  BIRDS. 

Serious  losses  sometimes  occur  from  injury  inflicted  on 
crops  or  poultry  by  birds.  It  is  well  to  remember,  how- 
ever, that,  while  the  harm  done  by  birds  is  conspicuous, 
the  compensating  good  that  they  do  is  usually  unnoticed. 
In  most  cases  it  is  best  not  to  kill  them,  but  to  protect  both 
birds  and  crops  ;  for  by  killing  too  many  birds  we  may  dis- 
turb the  biological  equilibrium,  and  bring  about  a  greater 


Fig.  171.  — Zinc  bands  to  prevent  cats  or  squirrels 
from  climbing  trees  or  poles. 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  411 


injury  than  the  one  we  attempt  to  prevent.  The  destruction 
of  too  many  corn-pulling  Crqws,  for  example,  might  be  fol- 
lowed by  such  an  increase  of  grubs  and  grasshoppers  that  no 
grass  could  be  grown  ;  or  the  extermination  of  Hawks  and 
Owls  might  be  succeeded  by  the  destruction  of  all  the  young 
fruit  trees  by  hordes  of  mice.  Moreover,  other  evils,  far  less 
simple  and  easily  traceable,  might  result,  for  the  widening 
ripples  that  man  creates  by  disturbing  the  balance  of  nature 
are  likely  to  be  felt  in  the  most  unexpected  places. 

Most  birds  earn  more  of  our  bounty  than  they  receive, 
and  that  portion  of  our  products  which  they  ordinarily  eat 
may  be  justly  looked  upon  as  but  partial  payment  for  their 
services.  Nevertheless,  the  farmer  must  protect  his  prop- 
erty from  excessive  injury,  such  as  sometimes  occurs  when 
the  natural  food  supply  of  birds  is  cut  short,  or  when  too 
many  are  gathered  upon  a  small  area. 

To  protect  Grain  from  Crows  and  Other  Birds. 

The  following  spring  measures  are  recommended  :  — 

1.  Tar  the  seed  corn,  as  follows  :  "Put  one-fourth  to  one- 
half  bushel  of  corn  in  a  half-barrel  tub  ;  pour  on  a  pailful  of 
hot  water,  or  as  much  as  is  necessary  to  well  cover  the  corn  ; 
dip  a  stick  in  gas  tar,  and  stir  this  briskly  in  the  corn  ;  re- 
peat until  the  corn  is  entirely  black  ;  pour  off  onto  burlap 
(bran  sacks  are  excellent)  ;  spread  in  the  sun  and  stir  two 
or  three  times  during  the  day.     If  this  work  is  done  in  the 
morning,  and  the  day  is  sunny,  the  corn  will  be  ready  for 
the  planter  the  next  day  without  any  other  care.     The  hot 
water  softens  the  tar  so  that  just  enough  will  adhere  to  the 
corn,  and  the  corn  is  completely  glazed  by  the  sun.     This 
is  by  far  the  quicker  way  of  tarring  corn,  is  harmless  and 
effectual,  and  I  have  for  years  planted  with  a  machine  corn 
treated  in  this  way."1 

2.  Scatter  soaked  corn  often  about  the  borders  of  the  field. 

3.  Plant  the  seed  three  or  four  inches  deep.     This  is  said 
to  prevent  corn-pulling  by  Crows,  and  must  be  effectual  on 
heavy  soil. 

1  Ethan  Brooks,  in  Annual  Report  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agri- 
culture, 1896,  p.  294. 


412  USEFUL   BIRDS. 

4.  Surround  the   field  with  a  line   of  twine,   strung  on 
upright  poles,  and  suspend  rags,  streamers,  pieces  of  bright 
tin,  etc.,  from  the  twine. 

5.  A    frequent   change    in    scarecrows    is    advisable.     A 
barrel  hung  on  a  leaning  pole  puzzles  the  Crow. 

To  drive  Blackbirds  from  a  cornfield  in  autumn,  a  charge 
of  fine  shot  fired  from  a  long  distance,  so  as  to  rattle  among 
them,  will  be  effectual  without  injuring  them. 

To  protect  grain  from  the  House  (or  "English")  Sparrow 
a  liberal  use  of  the  shotgun  is  usually  successful.  Poisoned 
wheat  has  been  used  in  extreme  cases. 

To  protect  Small  Fruits. 

It  is  not  usually  good  biology  to  shoot  birds  for  eating 
fruit.  It  is  better  to  provide  fruit  enough  for  both  birds 
and  man,  especially  wild  fruit,  which  birds  prefer.  The  fol- 
lowing protective  measures  are  recommended  :  — 

1.  To  protect  strawberries  and  cherries  (May  and  June), 
plant  Russian  mulberry  and  June  berry  or  shadberry,  or  plant 
several  trees  of  the  soft  early  cherries,  to  furnish  food  for 
the  birds.     The  Governor  Wood  is  a  type  of  the  kind  they 
prefer.      (G.  T.  Powell.) 

2.  To   protect   raspberries   and    blackberries    (July  and 
August),  plant  mulberry,  buckthorn,  elder,  and  chokeberry. 
(Florence  Merriam  [Bailey] . )      Also,  plant  some  early  sweet 
berries,  and  let  the  fruit  remain  until  dead  ripe,  to  attract 
the  birds  from  the  others.     Strawberries  may  be  thus  pro- 
tected.     (Prof.  H.  A.  Surface.)     The  larger  fruits,  such  as 
apples,  pears,  and  peaches,  are  not  much  injured  by  birds  in 
Massachusetts. 

3.  Where  it  is  found  impossible   to  protect  small  early 
cherry  trees  in  any  other  way,  it  will  pay  to  cover  them 
with  fine  fish  net  while  the  fruit  is  ripening. 

4.  If  Kingbirds  nest  near  cherry  trees,  they  will  keep 
other  birds  away.     Bees,  particularly  drones,  attract  King- 
birds. 

To  protect  Poultry  from   Hawks  and  Crows. 

1.  Rear  the  young  chicks  or  ducklings  on  grassland,  in 
portable  brooders  or  coops  to  which  movable  runs  are 
attached.  Poultry  reared  in  this  wav  is  much  finer  for  the 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  413 

table  than  if  allowed  to  run.  The  stock  intended  for  laying 
may  be  given  free  range  when  fgur  months  of  age,  or  when 
too  large  to  be  attacked  by  Crows  or  most  Hawks. 

•2.  Kingbirds,  Martins,  or  our  largest  Hawk,  the  Osprey 
or  Fish  Hawk  (Pandion  haliaetus  carolinensis) ,  if  allowed 
to  nest  near  the  coops,  will  protect  all  poultry  from  Hawks. 
All  these  birds  are  confiding  wherever  they  are  unmolested. 
Where  the  Osprey  is  protected  it  will  build  its  nest  in  a  tree 
near  the  farmyard.  It  never  troubles  poultry  or  small  birds, 
and  should  be  protected  by  law  at  all  times. 

3.  Hawks  may  be  frightened  away  from  the  poultry  yard 
if  a  general  shout  is  raised  whenever  one  appears. 

4.  When  a  Hawk  has  flown  off  with  a  chicken  it  should 
be  followed  quickly  but  cautiously,  and  may  be  shot  while 
absorbed  in  eating  its  prey. 

GENERAL   PROTECTIVE    MEASURES. 

The  first  and  most  important  step  in  protecting  birds 
from  their  human  enemies  is  to  create  a  public  sentiment 
in  favor  of  birds,  by  teaching  their  value  and  the  necessity 
for  conserving  them.  This  is  a  legitimate  work  for  State 
boards  of  agriculture  and  State  boards  of  education.  Free 
lectures  on  this  subject,  illustrated  by  stereopticon,  should 
be  given  at  teachers'  institutes  and  State  normal  schools, 
at  gatherings  of  school  children  held  for  the  purpose,  at 
farmers'  institutes,  and  before  farmers'  clubs  and  grange 
meetings.  Some  work  of  this  nature  has  been  done  by  the 
Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Education  and  by  the  orni- 
thologist of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  but  much  more 
should  be  done. 

There  are  ample  reasons  for  introducing  economic  nature 
study  in  the  schools.  The  utility  of  birds  and  the  means  of 
attracting  and  protecting  them  should  be  taught  in  home 
and  school  as  the  most  important  bird  stud}T.  A  feeding 
shelf  for  birds  should  be  put  up  at  a  window  of  every  coun- 
try school-house,  or  upon  the  flag  pole.  Children  should  be 
induced  to  plant  trees,  vines,  and  shrubs  that  furnish  food 
for  birds.  The  making  of  nesting  boxes  should  be  taught 
in  the  schools.  This  is  a  good  subject  for  manual  training 
classes.  The  boy  who  learns  to  feed  birds  and  to  furnish 


414  USEFUL    BIRDS. 


them  with  houses  will  always  be  their  friend.  Boys  should 
be  taught  to  exchange  the  gun  for  the  camera,  the  sketch 
book,  or  the  note  book.  Children  should  be  cautioned  not 
to  disturb  the  nests  of  birds  during  the  breeding  season  ;  but 
the  nest  census,  taken  after  the  leaves  have  fallen,  is  instruct- 
ive and  harmless. 

An  educational  propaganda  should  be  carried  on  in  those 
States  in  which  the  birds  that  breed  in  Massachusetts  or 
pass  through  it  are  killed  in  their  migrations.  Every  State 
should  have  an  official  economic  ornithologist,  among  whose 
duties  should  be  investigation  of  the  relations  of  birds  to 
insect  and  other  pests,  and  the  production  of  popular  leaflets 
and  newspaper  articles  on  birds  and  their  conservation. 
When  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  bird  protection  is  thor- 
oughly aroused,  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  effective  laws 
be  enacted,  respected,  and  enforced. 

Game  Protection. 

The  conservation  of  fish  and  game  is  a  vital  preliminary 
step  in  bird  protection. 

It  is  plain  that,  having  necessarily  destroyed  the  larger 
predatory  animals,  man  must  hold  in  check  the  creatures 
on  which  they  formerl}'  fed.  This  is  the  task  of  the  angler 
and  the  sportsman,  and  it  is  a  legitimate  one,  in  so  far  as 
it  disposes  of  only  the  surplus  fish,  mammals,  and  birds  ; 
but  the  tendency  to  go  farther  than  this  must  be  sharply 
curbed,  for  wherever  the  larger  game  mammals  and  game 
birds  are  exterminated,  people  begin  to  shoot  the  smaller 
species.  So  long  as  the  supply  of  game  is  kept  up,  just  so 
long  are  the  song  birds  comparatively  safe. 

A  mere  glance  at  the  history  of  game  legislation  in 
Massachusetts  or  any  other  eastern  State  is  enough  to  make 
one  wonder  that  any  native  game  now  exists.  From  the 
settlement  of  Massachusetts  until  the  year  1817  there  was 
practically  no  limit  to  the  amount  of  bird  shooting  that  any 
one  might  legally  do  at  any  season  of  the  year.  Until 
that  year  the  only  legislation  enacted  regarding  birds  pro- 
vided bounties  for  their  destruction.  Among  other  species, 
the  Ruffed  Grouse  or  Partridge  was  the  victim  of  local 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  415 


bounty  law*.  By  1817  most  of  the  larger  game  mammals 
and  game  birds  were  Hearing  extermination,  and  people 
were  beginning  to  shoot  Robins,  Larks,  Snipe,  and  Wood- 
cock, in  place  of  larger  birds.  A  law  was  then  passed  pro- 
tecting these  birds  from  March  1  to  July  4,  and  Partridges 
and  Quail  were  protected  from  March  1  to  September  1 ; 
but  this  law  was  nullified  locally  by  town  option,  for  any 
town  meeting  could  annually  suspend  its  operation. 

The  most  stringent  game  legislation  of  the  middle  nine- 
teenth century  period  was  a  series  of  acts,  not  for  the 
protection  of  the  birds,  but  for  the  benefit  of  people  en- 
gaged in  netting  Wild  Pigeons.  The  penalties  for  disturb- 
ing Pigeons  about  net  beds  were  heavier  than  those  for 
merely  killing  game  out  of  season.  They  even  included  a 
term  in  jail. 

It  would  be  ludicrous,  were  it  not  pathetic,  that  we  with- 
hold adequate  statutory  protection  from  game  birds  until 
they  are  practically  exterminated.  Protective  statutes  come 
too  late.  It  is  only  within  recent  years,  when  the  Passenger 
Pigeon  and  Heath  Hen  have  become  nearly  extinct,  that 
statutes  protecting  them  at  all  times  have  been  enacted  and 
retained  on  the  statute  books.  We  have  only  just  succeeded 
(1906)  in  getting  enactments  protecting  the  Wood  Duck 
and  the  Bartramian  Sandpiper  or  Upland  Plover  at  all  sea- 
sons. Unless  stringent  laws  can  be  passed  and  enforced  in 
other  States,  as  well  as  in  Massachusetts,  the  extinction  of 
these  birds  is  even  now  imminent. 

The  game  laws  of  Massachusetts  for  1906  protect  all  "song 
and  insectivorous  birds,"  Doves,  Pigeons,  Heath  Hens,  Pin- 
nated Grouse,  Pheasants,  Bartramian  Sandpiper  or  Upland 
Plover,  Herons,  Bitterns,  Wood  Duck,  and  most  Gulls  and 
Terns  throughout  the  year.  Other  game  birds  and  wild- 
fowl are  protected,  but  inadequately.  Eventually  the  shoot- 
ing season  must  be  shortened. 

Measures  and  Legislation  necessary  for  the  Protection  of  Game  and 
Birds. 

To  provide  against  the  extermination  of  game,  there  must 
be  established  throughout  the  country  a  series  of  State  res- 
ervations, maintained  as  places  of  refuge  for  game,  where 


416  USEFUL 


it  can  be  absolutely  protected  at  all  seasons.  Large  for- 
est reservations  have  already  been  acquired  by  the  United 
States  government  and  by  several  States.  In  January, 
1906,  New  York  had  reserved  nearly  a  million  and  a  half 
acres,  and  Pennsylvania  had  purchased,  or  contracted  for, 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres.  Connecticut,  New 
Jersey,  and  other  States  have  adopted  reservation  policies  ; 
and,  as  Alfred  Akerman,  late  State  Forester  of  Massachu- 
setts, well  says,  this  Commonwealth  ought  to  extend  its 
policy  of  park  reservation  to  include  genuine  State  forests. 
There  are  about  three  million  acres  in  Massachusetts  that 
are  of  little  value  except  for  forestry.  Under  rational  forest 
management  we  might,  in  time,  grow  most  of  the  lumber 
used  here,  instead  of  buying  it  in  the  north,  west,  and  south. 
This  land  is  the  natural  stronghold  of  the  Rutfed  Grouse, 
the  red  deer,  and  many  other  game  mammals  and  birds.  A 
goodly  portion  of  it  should  be  devoted  to  the  preservation 
of  the  forests  and  the  game.1 

Some  of  the  great  ponds  of  the  State  should  be  set  otf 
as  reservations  for  water-fowl  ;  marshes  and  sandy  shores 
should  be  taken  as  refuges  for  sea  fowl  and  shore  birds  ; 
and  islands  should  be  reserved  as  breeding  places  for  sea 
birds.  Undoubtedly  the  profits  from  the  forest  reserves 
would,  in  time,  pay  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  entire  system. 
Prussia  owns  six  million  acres  of  forest  land,  from  which 
the  government  derives  a  net  annual  revenue  of  $9,000,000  ; 
and  France  receives  a  net  yearly  income  of  $1.91  per  acre 
from  its  large  government  forest. 

While  this  policy  is  being  inaugurated,  other  legislation 
is  imperative.  Laws  must  be  enacted,  whenever  it  becomes 
necessary,  protecting  certain  birds  at  all  times  for  a  series 
of  years,  and  those  laws  must  be  enforced  with  a  strong  hand. 
Spring  shooting  destroys  the  naturally  selected  breeding  stock 
which  has  survived  the  dangers  of  fall  and  winter  ;  it  should 
be  absolutely  prohibited.  More  and  more  stringent  regula- 

1  A  large  part  of  the  forested  land  of  the  State  will  prohably  always  remain 
in  the  hands  of  private  owners  or  corporations.  Farmers  on  adjoining  farms  may 
band  together,  and,  by  posting  notices  on  their  lands,  they  may  protect  the  game  of 
considerable  tracts.  Farmers  in  some  towns  are  now  trying  this  plan.  Wealthy 
owners  of  large  tracts  have  a  still  better  opportunity  to  work  for  the  public  good. 


PLATE  LVI.  — Domesticated  Canada  Goose  on  Nest.    (Photograph,  from 
life,  by  I.  Chester  Horton.) 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  417 

tions  will  become  necessary  regarding  the  marketing  and  ship- 
ment of  game.  The  hunting  license,  which  is  now  finding 
favor  in  many  States,  must  sooner  or  later  be  adopted  here. 
It  is  doubtful,  however,  if  all  these  measures  will  result  in 
replenishing  our  woods  with  game  in  its  former  abundance. 
The  restocking  of  covers  with  birds  from  other  States  — 
an  excellent  method,  which  has  long  been  practised  by  game 
protective  associations  —  is  likely  to  come  to  an  end,  for 
already  most  States  do  not  allow  shipments  of  birds  to  points 
outside  the  State  boundaries. 

Artificial  Propagation  of  Game  Birds. 

The  ,greathr  increased  demand  for  game  birds  must  be  met 
by  a  new  source  of  supply.  The  only  promising  method 
available  for  restocking  is  artificial  propagation  and  feeding. 
Pheasants,  Quail,  Wood  Ducks,  Mallards,  Teal,  and  other 
wild-fowl  may  be  reared  in  great  numbers  if  the  work  is 
scientifically  done.  It  was  interesting  to  observe  the  large 
number  of  Pheasants  and  Mallards  successfully  reared  in 
1905  by  Mr.  Bayard  Thayer  at  Lancaster.  This  is  the  work 
in  which  commissioners  on  fisheries  and  game,  game  pro- 
tective associations,  and  wealthy  land  owners  must  engage 
if  we  are  to  have  game  in  its  former  abundance.  A  begin- 
ning may  be  made  by  importing  experienced  gamekeepers 
from  England  and  Scotland,  where,  notwithstanding  the 
long  settlement  of  the  country  and  the  density  of  the  popu- 
lation, people  have  game  for  their  own  use,  and  export  a 
great  deal  to  this  country  to  supply  our  depleted  markets. 
Artificial  propagation  is  the  most  important  work  of  the 
century  concerning  game  birds.  Many  thousands  must  be 
reared  and  liberated  annually  in  every  Atlantic  coast  State, 
until  the  covers  are  well  stocked  and  the  marshes  again 
swarm  with  game  birds  and  wild-fowl. 

Attempts  should  be  made  to  domesticate  game  birds.  In 
more  than  three  centuries  since  the  discovery  of  the  Ameri- 
can continent  only  one  American  bird,  the  Turkey,  has 
become  widely  distributed  through  domestication.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  Quail,  Grouse,  and  Wood  Ducks  may  be 
readily  tamed,  and  the  Canada  Goose  has  been  long  known 


418  USEFUL   BIRDS. 


to  be  capable  of  domestication.  More  attention  to  this  sub- 
ject might  add  largely  to  the  quantity  of  our  food  supply, 
and  provide  a  source  from  which  the  stock  of  game  could  be 
replenished.  The  restocking  of  the  State  with  a  plentiful 
supply  of  game  would  keep  within  her  borders  a  part  at 
least  of  the  more  than  two  million  dollars  which  is  annually 
spent  in  other  States  by  her  sportsmen,  and  it  would  pro- 
vide recreation  at  home  for  those  who  cannot  afford  the 
expense  of  travel. 

THE   MOVEMENT   FOR   BIRD    PROTECTION. 

In  setting  forth  the  measures  necessary  for  the  protection 
of  birds,  one  cannot  ignore  the  fact  that  a  great  movement  for 
bird  protection  is  under  way  and  has  already  accomplished 
great  good.  The  Audubon  societies  of  the  country  have  so 
influenced  public  sentiment  as  to  practically  stop  the  wear- 
ing of  the  feathers  of  useful  American  birds.  The  American 
Ornithologists  Union  was  enabled,  through  moneys  raised  by 
the  efforts  of  Mr.  Abbott  H.  Thayer,  to  protect  the  sea  birds 
on  many  islands  along  the  coast  of  the  United  States  for 
several  years.1  This  work  and  the  general  one  of  protecting 
native  birds  and  other  animals  have  been  taken  up  by  the 
National  Association  of  Audubon  Societies,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Mr.  William  Dutcher  of  Xew  York.  The  untiring 
devotion  of  his  time  and  means  to  this  cause  is  bringing  forth 
fruits  in  the  shape  of  improved  legislation  and  aroused  public 
sentiment  in  many  States.  Through  his  earnest  efforts  this 
movement  is  receiving  deserved  endowment,  which  will  un- 
doubtedly result  in  its  perpetuation.  Game  protection  has 
been  taken  up  by  the  Biological  Survey  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  and  a  very  efficient  officer,  Dr. 
T.  S.  Palmer,  has  been  placed  in  charge  of  the  enforcement 
of  the  Lacey  act.  State  governments  have  been  assisted  by 
the  strong  hand  of  the  United  States  in  enforcing  advanced 
legislation.  The  central  government  has  co-operated  with 
the  Audubon  societies  and  game  protective  associations  of 

1  The  Massachusetts  colony  of  Terns  and  Gulls  at  Muskeget  Island  was  saved 
from  extermination  first  through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  William  Brewster  and  others 
and  later  by  the  continuous  work  of  Mr.  George  H.  Mackay. 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS.  41U 


different  States.  This  co-operation  has  resulted  in  a  great 
general  improvement  in  State  laws  and  their  enforcement. 
This  movement,  now  so  well  under  way,  gives  promise  of 
preserving  a  large  part  at  least  of  the  wealth  of  our  fauna, 
which  we  may  be  said  to  hold  as  trustees  for  posterity. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  persons  who  are  interested  in 
caring  for  and  protecting  birds,  a  list  of  some  officials  and 
associations  who  will  help  to  further  the  work  is  appended  :  — 

Bureau  of  Biological  Survey,  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture,  Washington,  D.  C.,  Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam, 
chief,  Henry  W.  Henshaw,  administrative  assistant.  The 
Survey  distributes  a  large  number  of  authoritative  publi- 
cations on  the  food  habits  and  utility  of  birds.  Dr.  T.  S. 
Palmer  of  the  Survey,  assistant  in  charge  of  game  preserva- 
tion, has  literature  on  that  subject  for  distribution,  and  is 
prepared  to  furnish  information  that  will  aid  in  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  game  and  bird  laws. 

The  National  Association  of  Audubon  Societies  (offices, 
141  Broadway,  Xew  York),  William  Dutcher,  president, 
T.  Gilbert  Pearson,  secretary,  is  helping  the  cause  of  bird 
protection  everywhere  by  every  means  in  its  power.  It 
sends  out  excellent  illustrated  leaflets  to  teachers,  and 
directly  influences  legislation. 

The  Massachusetts  Commission  on  Fisheries  and  Game 
(Room  158,  State  House,  Boston),  Dr.  George  W.  Field, 
chairman,  is  the  legally  constituted  authority  for  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  fish,  game,  and  bird  laws  of  Massachusetts.  The 
commission  furnishes,  on  request,  a  poster  containing  an 
abstract  of  these  statutes.  A  copy  of  this  is  posted  annually 
in  each  post-office  in  the  State.  The  officers  of  the  com- 
mission attend  to  all  complaints  of  infractions  of  these  laws. 
The  commission  is  also  engaged  in  propagating  Pheasants, 
Quail,  and  Grouse. 

The  State  Board  of  Agriculture  (room  136,  State  House, 
Boston),  J.  Lewis  Ellsworth,  secretary,  distributes  bulle- 
tins, reports,  and  nature  leaflets  on  birds  and  bird  protection  ; 
also  cloth  posters,  on  which  are  printed  extracts  from  the 
trespass  laws. 

The  Massachusetts  Fish  and  Game  Protective  Association 


420  USEFUL   BIltDS. 

(21l>  Washington  Street,  Boston),  William  Brewster,  presi- 
dent, Henry  H.  Kimball,  secretary-treasurer,  is  the  most 
influential  and  effective  game  protective  organization  now 
actively  at  work  in  the  State.  It  furnishes  game  birds  to 
restock  depleted  covers,  grain  for  game  birds  in  winter,  and 
posters  containing  abstracts  of  the  game  laws.  Its  officers 
also  assist  in  the  enforcement  of  the  statutes.  Practically 
all  the  game  protective  associations  of  Massachusetts  are 
affiliated  with  this  organization. 

The  Massachusetts  Audubon  Society  (234  Berkeley  Street, 
Boston),  William  Brewster,  president,  Miss  Jessie  E.  Kim- 
ball,  secretary,  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  forces  for  bird 
protection  in  the  State.  Its  local  secretaries  are  numerous, 
and  its  influence  is  widely  felt.  This  association  takes  no 
direct  action  to  enforce  the  law  :  its  chief  function  is  to 
influence  public  sentiment,  and  secure  protective  legislation. 
The  secretary  has  literature  for  distribution,  and  the  associa- 
tion publishes  charts  and  provides  lectures  on  birds. 

The  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty 
to  Animals  (19  Milk  Street,  Boston),  George  T.  Angell, 
president,  Hon.  Henry  B.  Hill,  vice-president,  furnishes 
cards  for  posting  in  public  places,  offering  rewards  for  the 
conviction  of  persons  killing  birds  or  taking  their  nests  or 
eggs.  This  societv,  whose  good  work  is  well  known,  also 
furnishes  free  literature  advocating  kindness  to  birds  and 
other  animals. 

There  are  other  associations  that  take  an  interest  in  the 
protection  of  birds.  The  Animal  Rescue  League,  the  League 
of  American  Sportsmen,  the  Agassiz  Association,  and  many 
minor  societies  and  sportsmen's  organizations,  lend  their  in- 
fluence to  strengthen  this  movement.  Sportsmen's  periodi- 
cals have  done  much  for  the  protection  of  birds  and  game. 
The  Forest  and  Stream  Company  of  New  York,  under  the 
direction  of  Mr.  J.  Bird  Grinnel,  supported  the  first  Audu- 
bon Society  for  years,  both  editorially  and  financially. 
Writers  like  Herbert  K.  Job,  Ernest  Harold  Baynes,  and 
A.  C.  Dike  are  penning  helpful  articles  for  newspapers 
or  periodicals.  Nature  books  are  teaching  altruistic  ideas 
regarding  birds. 


THE   PROTECTION   OF  BIRDS. 


All  the.se  agencies  must  help  to  hasten  the  day  when  our 
woods  shall  teem  with  game  and  birds  ;  when  our  lakes  and 
rivers  shall  be  populous  with  wild-fowl  ;  and  when  our 
people,  young  and  old,  shall  welcome,  protect,  and  cherish 
our  feathered  friends  of  orchard,  garden,  and  field.  If  this 
volume  shall  help  in  any  degree  to  bring  about  this  con- 
summation, it  will  not  have  been  written  in  vain. 


PAPEKS  ox  ORNITHOLOGY,  PUBLISHED  BY  THE  MASSACHUSETTS  STATE 
BOARD  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

Essays  ami  Lectures. 
Utility  of  Birds.     Wilson  Flags:.     Annual  report  of  the  Massachusetts 

State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1861  (Part  II..),  pp.  50-78. 
Agricultural  Value  of  Birds.     K.  A.   Samuels.     Ibid.,  1865  (Part  I.), 

pp.  94-117. 
The  Utility  of  Birds  to  Agriculture.     Frank  II.  Palmer.     Ibid.,  1871 

(Part  II.),  pp.  107-120. 
Insect-eating    Birds.      Frank    II.    Palmer.      Ibid.,    1872    (Part    II.), 

pp.  194-210. 

Birds  of  Massachusetts.     Dr.  B.  H.  Warren.     Ibid.,  1890,  pp.  34-57. 
The  Regulative  Influence  exerted  by  Birds  on  the  Increase  of  Insect 

Pests.     E.  II.  Forbush.     Massachusetts  Crop  Report,  September, 

1894. 
Birds  as  Protectors  of  Orchards.     E.  II.  Forbush.     Annual  report  of 

the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1895,  pp.  347-362. 
The  Crow  in  Massachusetts.     E.  H.  Forbush.     Ibid.,  1896,  pp.  275- 

296. 

Nature's  Foresters.     E.  II.  Forbush.     Ibid.,  1898,  pp.  279-294. 
Birds  as  Destroyers  of   Hairy  Caterpillars.     E.   H.   Forbush.     I  but., 

1899,  pp.  316-337. 

Birds  Useful  to  Agriculture.     E.  II.  Forbush.     Ibid.,  1900,  pp.  36-61. 
Birds  as  Protectors  of  Woodlands.      E.   II.    Forbush.      Ibid.,    1900, 

pp.  300-321. 
Two  Years  with  the  Birds  on  a  Farm.     E.  H.  Forbush.     lind.,  1902, 

pp.  111-161. 

Special  lit  ports. 

Ornithology  of  Massachusetts,  List  of  Species.  E.  A.  Samuels.  Annual 
report  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1863 
(Parti.).  Appendix,  pp.  xviii-xxix. 

Report  on  the  Birds  of  Massachusetts,  by  the  State  Board  of  Agricul- 
ture to  the  House  of  Representatives,  under  the  resolution  of  May 
28,  1890.  Ibid.,  1890,  pp.  267-273. 


422 


USEFUL   BIRDS. 


The  Destruction  of  Birds  by  the  Elements  in  1903-04.     E.  H.  Forbush. 

Ibid.,  1903,  pp.  457-503. 
The  Decrease  of  Certain  Birds,  and  its  Causes,  with  Suggestions  for 

Bird  Protection.     E.  H.  Forbush.     Ibid.,  1904,  pp.  429-543. 

Nature  Leaflets. 

No.  12.  Winter  Birds  at  the  Farm.     E.  H.  Forbush.     1902. 
No.  14.  Owl  Friends.     E.  II.  Forbush.      1903. 
No.  15.  Bird  Houses.     E.  H.  Forbush.     1903. 
No.  16.  Our  Friend  the  Chickadee.     E.  H.  Forbush.     1903. 
No.  22.  Hints  for  Out-door  Bird  Study.     E.  H.  Forbush.     I.     How  to 

identify  Birds.     1904. 

No.  23.  Ibid.     II.     How  to  find  Birds.      1904. 
No.  24.  Ibid.     III.     How  to  approach  Birds.     1904. 
No.  25.  Ibid.     IV.     How  to  attract  Birds.     1904. 


INDEX. 


INDEX. 


[Heavy-faced  type  indicates  the  principal  reference  to  a  species.    In  most  instances  a 
brief  description  of  the  bird  referred  to  may  be  found  on  the  page  thus  indicated.] 

PAGE 
Accipiter  atricapillus,     ...........    366 

cooperii,  ............    366 

velox,       .         .         ..........    366 

Actias  luna,     .............    108 

Agelaius  phceniceus,        ...........   319 

Aix  sponsa,      .............    353 

Akerman,  Alfred,  ............    416 

Alabama  argillacea  ......         .         .....     33 

Allen,  J.  A.,   .............    302 

Altum,  Bernhard,   ............     64 

Anabrus  purpurascens,    .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .66 

Anas  obscura,  .............  353 

Angell,  George  T.,  ............    420 

Anthonomus  grandis,       ...........      34 

Antrostomus  vociferus,   ...........  342 

Aphid,  birch,  eggs  of  ............    223 

Aphis,  hop  vine,      ............     29 

woolly  apple,        ..........     203,252 

Aphodius  inquinatus,       ...........     61 

Ardea  herodius,        ............  352 

Army  worm,    ........    36,  218,  295,  316,  323,  330,  349 

Asio  accipitrinus,    ............    367 

wilsonianus,     ............    368 

Audubon,  John  J.,  .........  4,  194,  263,  346,  347 

Aughey,  Samuel,     .........         54,  184,  200,  335 

Auk,  Great,     ...........          3,354,356 

Bailey,  Charles  E.,  .         .        124,  142,  166,  169,  170,  175,  178,  214,  240,  241,  253,  256 
S.  Waldo,    ............    370 

Baird,  Spencer  F  ..............     13 

Ballou,  H.  A.,          .....         .         ......     45 

Bangs,  Outram,        ............   238 

Bark  louse,  oyster-shell,  ........         •         •     1(>8'  175 

Barton,  B.  S.,  .............     M 

Baskett,  J.  M.,        ............    2-' 

Baynes,  Ernest  Harold,  ...........    42° 

Beal,  F.  E.  L.,          .     58,  59,  61,  162,  211,  226,  227,  234,  236,  239,  259,  264,  283,  285, 

293,  305,  318,  321,  342 
Beetles,  Colorado  potato,         .....       16,27,29,216,218,3:50,342 

elm-leaf  ...........      207,211,234 

May  .....       10,  11,  183,  220,  227,  234,  238,  348 

' 


rose, 


«»,3« 


striped  cucumber,       .......       227,  234,  342,  348 

Bendire,  Charles,     .         .         .        •         .......     2:V2'  235 


426  INDEX. 


Bibio  albipeunis, 286 

Bird,  Myrtle 201 

Planting, 179 

Teacher; : 188 

Birds  as  tree  planters, 93 

pruners,       ...........99 

flight  of, 2 

Bittern,  American, 352 

Least 352 

Blackbird,  Cow 320 

Crow, 114,  130,  135,  313,  371 

food  of, 315 

Marsh, 319 

Red-winged,  .         .         .         .60,  114,  122,  125,  128,  130,  131,  319 

food  of, 320 

Busty, 122, 312 

Skunk, 322 

Western  Crow 313 

Yellow-headed 67 

Blackbirds, 2,69,75,76 

Blissus  leucopterus 33 

Bluebird, 115,  290,  389 

food  of, 291 

Bobolink, 125,  127,  322 

food  of 323 

Bob-white, 60,  325 

food  of,  .         .         .  •    .         .         .331 

Bombyx  dispar,        ............     64 

Borer,  bronze  birch, 254 

maple, 254 

Brewer,  Thomas  M.f 347 

Brewster,  William,          .         13,  218,  243,  267,  269,  331,  338,  390,  404,  410,  418,  420 

estate  of, 403 

Bruchus  hibisci, 178 

Bruner,  Lawrence,  . 109 

Bubo  virginianus, 367 

Bucculatrix  pomifoliella 252 

Buckham,  James, 343 

Bull  bat, 341 

Bunting,  Bay-winged, 311 

Black-throated, 355 

Cow, .         .320 

Indigo 115,  122.  298 

Burroughs,  John,     ......  189,  190,  199,  226,  312,  363,  371 

Butterfly,  mourning-cloak, 16 

caterpillar  of, 227 

parsley,  eggs  of 305 

Cabbage  worms,       ............   302 

Canary,  Wild, 194,  222 

Cankerworm,  fall, 169 

spring, 70,  170 

Cankerworms,  .         125,  127-129,  131-135,  140,  141,  175,  181,  188,  191,  195,  210. 

±M.  I'.",!,  295,  302,  304 
Carpocapsa  pomonella,    ...........    151 


INDEX.  427 


PACK 

Carpodacus  purpureus, _      .  220 

Catbird,  ....  57,  58,  108,  109,  115,  122,  125-128,  139,  181,  283,  371 

food  of, 182 

Caterpillars,  American  tent,    .      117,  118,  123,  126,  127,  130-136,  195,  208,  226,  302, 

304,343 
brown-tail  moth,          ....  130-140,  184,  302,  304,  370 

forest  tent 69,  120,  125,  127,  138-140,  175 

gipsy  moth,         .        63,  125,  126,  128,  129,  133-136,  138,  141,  144,  145, 
157, 160, 175, 181, 184, 188, 195,  205,  208,  218,  226, 

333,369 

oak, 272 

red-humped, 272 

tussock  moth, 120 

Cecidomyia  destructor 33 

Cedar  Bird, 51,57,60,69,209 

Certhia  familiaris  americana,          .         .        . 177 

Chaetura  pelagica, 340 

Chapman,  Frank  M., 81,91,197,250,386 

Chebec, 229 

Chermes  larcifolia, 223 

Cherry  Bird, 209 

Chewink, 126,  127,  139,  218 

Chickadee,       .         .         .53, 115, 122, 124, 129,  130, 136, 140,  143, 145, 146,  163,  400 

food  of, 167-171 

Chinch  bug, 27,28,33 

Chip  Bird,  Chipper,  Chippy, 303 

Chordeiles  virginianus, 341 

Circus  hudsonicus,  ............  367 

Cistothorus  stellaris, 350 

Clercy,  J.  O., 74 

Coccyzus  americanus, 266 

erythropthalinus, 263 

Colaptes  auratus  luteus, 260 

Coleman,  RobeitH 186 

Colinus  virginianus 325 

Colt,  W.  C., HO 

Contopus  virens, 231 

Corydalus  cornutus, 214 

Cotton  worm, 33 

Coturniculus  savannarum  passerinus 308 

Cowbird, 320 

Crane,  Whooping, <>7 

Creeper,  American  Brown, 177 

food  of, 178 

Black  and  White 144,  191 

Crickets,  western, 65,  66 

Crow,        .     2,  8-11,  26,  45-50,  75,  97,  114,  115,  125,  126,  129,  137,  145,  146,  333,  369 

trapping  the, •«*> 

Cuckoo,  Black-billed,      .         .         .    114.  115,  125,  128,  136,  138,  139,  142,  144,  263 

food  of 264 

Yellow-billed,    ...       60,  61,  114,  115,  126,  128,  138,  140,  146,  265 

food  of, 266 

Curlews 68»  75 

Cutworms,        .         11,  27,  34,  44,  157,  160,  181,  183,  287,  291,  295,  315,  316,  318.  330 
Cyanospiza  cyanea, 298 


428  INDEX. 


PAGE 

Dearborn,  Ned, 45,  48,  61 

Dendroica  aestiva, 194 

coronata, 201 

pensylvanica, 192 

vigojsii, 200 

virens, 198 

Diacrisia  virginica,  ...........    120 

Dickcissel, 355 

Dike,  A.  C., 362,  408,  420 

Diomedea  inimutabilis, 82 

Diplosis  tritici, 32 

Dobson 214 

Doryphora  decemlineata 1(5 

Dove, 13, 25 

Carolina 324 

Mourning, 60,  324 

Turtle, 324 

Duck,  Black, 353 

Wood, 353 

Dutcher,  William, 363,  418,  419 

Eagle,  Bald 366 

Egrets,  destruction  of, 357 

Elaphidion  villosum 99 

Elliot,  D.  G., 84 

H.  W., 82 

Ellsworth,  J.  Lewis,        .        ".         ...        .        .        .         .         .         .419 

Euproctis  chrysorrhea,    ....»» 39 

Euvanessa  antiopa,          ...........  16 

Falco  columbarius, .         .         .    366 

peregrinus  anatmn,        . 366 

sparverius,     ............    366 

Fannin,  J.,      .  332 

Farley,  J.  A., 283 

Felt,  E.  P., 69,  120,  247 

Fernald,  C.  H., 142,  240,  346 

H.  T., 37 

Field,  G.  W., 419 

Finch,  Crimson, 220 

Grass 311 

Purple, 122,  1L'5,  220 

food  of 221 

Fire  Hang  Bird, 224 

Fisher,  A.  K., .    H6,  79,  80,  206 

Fiske,  W.  F., 55 

Fitch,  Asa 28,  255 

Flagg,  Wilson, 73,  204,  287 

Fletcher,  James, 35 

Flicker, 60,  126,  139,  146,  249 

Northern, 122,  260 

food  of, 261 

tongue  of, ,         .         .         .         .    261 

Flies,  crane, 207,  211 

house 208,235 


INDEX.  42(J 


PAGE 

Flies,  March,  .............   286 

May,      .............    130 

robber  ..............    239 

Flycatcher,  Great-crested,       .......       114,  115,  141,  144 

Least,   ......   114,115,122,130,133,141,143,229 

food  of,       ..........    231 

Forbes,  S.  A  .......        17,  60,  155,  160.-181,  183,  210,  272,  285 

Fiirst,  Herman,       ............      17 

Galeoscoptes  carol  inensis,        ..........  181 

Galerucella  luteola,          ...........    207 

Gallinago  delicata,  ...........  337 

Game  birds,  destruction  of,     ........          76,  84,  356 

Gentry,  T.  G  ...........       192,213,234,302 

Geolplypis  trichas  brachidactyla,    .........   186 

Glover,  Townend,   ...........       29,  251 

Goldfinch,  American,      .........      122,  153,  222 

food  of,          .........    223 

Goodell,  Henry  H.,          ...........     36 

Goodmore,  S.  E.,     ............     «8 

Gophers,  .....         '        .......      78 

Goshawk  .............       62,366 

Crackle,  Bronzed,  ...........    114,  313 

Purple,      ...........    H4,  313 

Rusty  .............    312 

Grosbeak,  Rose-breasted,          52,  115,  122,  125-128,  131,  133,  140,  142,  144,  145,  216 
food  of,    .........    218 

Ground  Bird,  ......         .......  2" 

Grouse,    .............         13,43 

Ruffed,        ..........         61,99,267 

food  of,  ...........    271 

food  plants,  list  of,          ........    273 

Grub,  white,    ..........  10,76,181.289 

Guano,    .........         .....     ' 

Gull,  Brown-headed,       ...........    405 

Franklin's,     .         ..........        61»  67 

Gulls,  utility  of,      ...........        ^  81 


Hair  Bird, 
Hang  Nest, 
Hares, 

Harris,  T.  W., 
Harvey,  F.  L., 
Hawk, 

Bog 

Chicken, 


QOft 

Coopers,       ............    * 

;^5 

Fish     ............         4,  »1» 

Marsh,          ...........     »*.«« 

'* 


e-sdered  ............    a 

Sharp-shinned,     ...........    * 

Sparrow,      ........... 

Hawks,  trapping  ............ 


430  INDEX. 


Heath  Hen 2(5,266 

Heliophila  unipuncta, 36 

Hellgramite 214 

Helops  acreus, 178 

Henshaw,  Henry  W., 419 

Hemerocampa  leucostignia,    .         .         .         .  • 120 

Heron,  Black-crowned  Night, 351 

Great  Blue 67,  352 

Green, 351 

High-hole,  High-holder 260 

Hill,  Henry  B 420 

Hirundo  erythrogaster,  ...........  345 

Hodge,  C.  F., 267,  269,  271,  373 

Hoffman,  Ralph, 191,  199,  310 

Hopkins,  A.  D 247 

Hornaday,  William  T., 354 

Howard,  L.  0 153,  154,  162 

Hummingbird,  Ruby-throated, 122,  240 

food  of, 242,  244 

Hylocichla  fuscescens, 156 

mustelina,     .  158 

Indian  Hen, 352 

Indigo  Bird, 137,  139,  298 

Insects,  parasitic 18-20,  240 

predaceous, 17 

transformations  of 13-15 

lo  caterpillar, 264 

Iridoprocne  bicolor 344 

Isia  Isabella, 120 

Jay, 12,  94,  404,  409 

Blue,        ...         11,  114,  115,  126,  129,  132,  136,  138,  139,  144-146,  369 

Jenks,  J.  Y.  P. 276,  284 

Job,  Herbert  K., 420 

Judd,  Sylvester  D.,          .        121,  178,  181-183,  186,  272,  273,  278-280,  294,  300,  305, 

326,  327,  329-331 

Junco  hyemalis 300 

Junco,  Slate-colored 122,  296,  300 

food  of, 301 

Kaltenbach,  J.  H., 32 

Keyser,  Leander  S., 173,185 

Kimball,  H.  H 326 

King,  F.  H 175,  206,  272 

Kingbird, 114,  115,  127, 136,  141,  143,  145,  235 

food  of, 238 

Western 57 

Kingfisher 2(52 

Kinglet,  Golden-crowned, 161 

Ruby-crowned, 161 

Kinglets, 160 

Kirby  and  Spence 30,  64,  73 

Kirkland,  A.  H.,     .         .         .         .    29.  37,  45,  51,  136.  175,  228,  237,  252,  256,  304 


INDEX.  431 


PAGE 

Lachnus  strobi, 162 

Lanius  borealis,  ............  370 

Lark,  Old-field, 316 

Larus  franklinii, 61,  67 

Lawrence,  Samuel  C., 39 

Leopard  moth, 107 

Leucarctia  acraea, 112 

Lilford,  Lord, 7!) 

Linnet,  Gray 220 

Red 220 

Lintner,  J.  A., 28-31,  33,  34 

Liparis  monacha, 17 

Locust,  Rocky  mountain, 28,  34 

ravages  of, 67-69,  74 

Lyford,  C.  Allan, 118 

Mackay,  George  H., 418 

Malacosoma  disstria,        ...........     69 

Marlatt,  C.  L., 33,  35,  36,  39 

Martin,  Bee, 235 

Black, 347 

Purple, 347 

food  of 348 

Martins,  ..............     55 

Mathews,  Schuyler, 265 

Mavis,  Red 179 

Maynard,  C.  J., 51 

Meadowlark, 316 

food  of, 318 

Megascops  asio, 368 

Melanoplus  femur-rub  rum,      ..........    272 

spretus,         ...........     34 

Melospiza  cineria  melodia, 299 

georgiana 349 

Merriam,  C.  Hart, 59,  419 

Florence, 236,241 

Merula  migratoria, 282 

Mice,  field, 77,  78,  80 

meadow,         ............    367 

Midge,  wheat, 32 

Millais,  J.  G., 405 

Millinery  trade, 85,357 

Minot,  H.  D., 164,  205,  218,  308,  309,  404 

Mniotilta  varia, 191 

Mosher,  F.  H.,  51,  52,  62,  124,  144,  184,  193,  195,  225,  230,  241,  333 

Moth,  brown-tail 39,  124,  130,  147,  148,  205,  234 

cecropia, 109 

codling, 35,151,231,250 

fall  cankerworm,  eggs  of, 175 

gipsy,    .          .    38,  39,  128,  142-144,  147,  148,  192,  205,  214,  231,  232,  234,  238, 

259,  333 

leopard, 107 

luna, 214 

.     17 


nun, 


polyphemus, 


109 


432  INDEX. 


Moth,  tent  caterpillar,  eggs  of 167,  369 

tussock, 232 

Hunger,  H.  C 326 

Musselman,  C.  C 55 

Nash,  C.  W., 44,  45,  227,  318,  330 

Nectarophora  destructor, 304 

Nighthawk, (JO,  341 

food  of, 342 

Nuthatch,  Canada 176 

Red-breasted, 115,  176 

food  of, 176 

White-breasted, 115,  122,  171 

food  of 174 

Nuthatches 163 

Nuttall,  Thomas, 226,  231,  251,  263 

Nyctala  acadica, 368 

Nyctea  nivea, 367 

Nycticorax  nycticorax  naevius, 351 

Oak  pruner 99,  256 

Oriole,  Baltimore,    .    70, 114,  115,  122,  125-128,  131-133,  13(5,  137,  140,  143,  224,  230 

food  of, 226 

Orchard, 224 

Orioles, 69,  108 

Osborn,  Herbert, 187 

Osprey,  American, 413 

Otus  brachyotus, 78 

Oven-bird,        .         ...        .         .115,122,124,127,134,141,144,146,188 

food  of, 190 

Owen,  Daniel  E., 42,45,51 

Owl,  Acadian,         .         . 368 

American  Hawk,    ...........  367 

American  Long-«ared, 368 

Barn, 79, 368 

Barred 367 

Great  Horned, 367 

Hoot 367 

Saw-whet, 368 

Screech, 368 

Short-eared, 78,  367 

Snowy, 367 

Owls 77 

Packard,  A.  S 32-36,  111,  112,  256,  348 

Paleacrita  vernata, 70 

Palmer,  T.  S., 418,  419 

Pandion  hiliaetus  carolinensis, 413 

Papilio  polyxenes, 305 

Partridge, 267 

Parusatricapillus, 163 

Pea  louse,        .............    304 

Peabody  Bird, 307 

Pear  tree  psylla, 153,  377 

Pe'licot,  P.,      .  .56 


INDEX.  433 


Pewee, 233 

Bridge, 233 

Wood, 114,  115,  122,  126,  141,  143,  231 

food  of ,     .         . 232 

Phasianus  torquatus 332 

Pheasant,  Ring-necked, 332 

food  of, 333 

Philohela  minor, 336 

Phoebe, 114,  115,  145,  233,  388 

Phosbe  Bird, 233 

food  of 234 

Phorodon  humuli, 29 

Piesma  cinerea,        ............    174 

Pigeon,  Passenger, 3,  323,  354,  350 

Pigeons,  domestic, 13,  25 

Piranger  erythromelas, 212 

Pissodes  strobi, 168,  254 

Plant  lice,        ...     28,  62,  71,  122,  124-128,  175,  196,  203,  221,  223,  339,  344 

eggs  of, 102,  223 

Platysamia  cecropia, 108,  259 

Plover, 2(5,  43,  67,  68 

Upland, 75,  334,  336 

Pooecetes  gramineus 311 

Porthetria  dispar, 38 

Porzana  Carolina,     ............  350 

Poultry, 85 

Prairie  Chickens 67,68,75,76,84 

Proctor,  Thomas  M., 93 

Psyllapyri 153 

Quail 26,  67,  68,  75,  76,  325 

Marsh, 316 

Rail,  Sora, 350 

Virginia, 350 

Railroad  worm, 231 

Rallus  virginianus,  ...........  350 

Raspail,  Xavier, 408 

Redstart,  American,        ....   115, 122,  129,  131,  135,  138,  140,  143,  196 

food  of, .         .         .197 

Reed  Bird, 322 

Reed,  C.  A., 199 

Regulus  satrapa, 161 

Rice  Bird, 322 

Ridgway,  Robert, .57,  157,  326 

Riley,  C.  V., 29,  34,  35 

Riley  and  Howard 65,75 

Riley,  Packard,  and  Thomas, 34,  69,  75 

Riparia  riparia, 344 

Robin, 9,  10,  16,  44,  45,  115 

American,    .         .         .      115,  122,  129,  131-133,  136,  138-140,  147,  282,  315 

food  of, 285 

Golden, 224 

Ground, 218 

Wood, 158 


434  INDEX. 


PAGE 

Rouiaine,  C.  E., 330 

Russell,  John  S., 348 

Sanderson,  E.  D 174 

Sandpiper,  Bartramian, 334,  336 

Spotted, 335 

Sapsucker,  Yellow-bellied, 114,115,262 

Sayornis  Phoebe, 233 

Scale,  San  Jose', 151 

Schizoneura  lanigera 203,  252 

Schizura  concinna, 'H'l 

Seeds  eaten  by  birds, 281,  290 

Seton,  Ernest  Thompson, 343 

Setophaga  ruticilla, 196 

Shaw,  Henry 142 

Shrike,  Northern, 370 

Shrubs,  fruit-bearing 374 

Sialia  sialis 290 

Silkworm,  American, 30,  108 

Sitta  canadensis, 176 

carolinensis,    ............   171 

Smith,  John  B., 107 

Snipe, 43 

Wilson's 337 

Snowbird, 59 

Black 300 

Spanworm,  currant 112 

Sparrow,  Chipping 55,  114,  115,  122,  126,  136,  143,  303,  398 

food  of 304 

English,    .     21,  56,  114,  134,  136-138,  140,  141,  292,  294,  344,  370,  389,  407 

Field, 114,  122,  127,  131,  140,  301 

food  of, 302 

Fox, 296 

Grasshopper 308 

food  of, 309 

Ground, 299 

Henslow's 309 

House 56,  206,  225,  292,  370 

Savanna, 310 

food  of, 311 

Song, 42,  114,  128, 134,  141,  296,  299 

Swamp, 349 

Tree 306 

Vesper, 311 

food  of, 312 

White-throated 114,  122,  131,  307 

food  of, 308 

Yellow-winged, 308 

Sparrows,  food  of ,.........•••    295 

Sphyrapicus  varius, 262 

Spizella  monticola, 306 

pusilla 301 

socialis, 303 

Spoonbills, 65 

Squirrels, 94,364,408 


INDEX.  435 


Stake-driver, 352 

Starlings, 17,  65 

Stockwell,  J.  W., Mi,  37 

Stumella  magna, 316 

Swallow,  Bank, 60,  344 

food  of 344 

Barn, 345 

food  of, 345 

Chimney 340 

Cliff,      * 61,  346 

food  of, 347 

Eaves 346,  387 

House, 344 

Tree, 344,389 

food  of, 345 

White-bellied, 344 

White-breasted, 344 

Swift,  Chimney, 128,  340, 1587 

food  of, 340 

Tanager,  Scarlet,     ....      63,  115.  122,  125,  127,  135,  137,  144,  146,  212 

food  of, 213 

Summer, 211 

Teeter, ...  335 

Tegetmeier,  W.  B., 79 

Telea  polyphemus, 30,  108 

Telematodytes  palustris 350 

Terns, 80 

eggs  of, 82 

Thayer,  Abbott  H., 418 

Bayard, 417 

Theronia  melanocephala 239 

Thistle  Bird, 222 

Thompson,  Maurice, 246.  258 

Thoreau,  Henry  D 96,  295) 

Thrasher,  Bnnvn, 115,  134,  179 

food  of, 180 

Thrush,  Brown, 126,  l->7,  131,  179 

Golden-crowned, 188 

Hermit, 45,  156 

Song, 168 

Tawny, 156 

Wilson's, US,  1W,  IS",  166 

food  of, l-r>7 

Wood, 93,  115,  126,  127,  133,  134,  139,  158 

food  of 159 

Thrushes, 108 

food  of, 155 

Tip-up, 335 

Titmice, .         .        .         .     1 

Titmouse,  Black-capped, 163 

Torrey,  Bradford 1!H) 

Towhee, '       .  114,115,122,143,218 

food  of '-• 

Toxostoma  nifiuii.  .  179 


436  INDEX. 


PAGE 

Treadwell,  D., 44 

Treat,  Mary, 211 

Tree  hoppers,  buffalo,      ...........  272 

Trees,  fruit-bearing, 374 

Troglodytes  aedon, 292 

Trouvelot,  Leopold, 80,  ol,  38,  108 

Turner,  R.  E 74 

Tyrannus  tyraniius,          ...........  235 

verticalis, 57 

Veery, 156 

Vines,  fruit-bearing-, 374 

Vireo,  Red-eyed,      .         .          51,  115,  122,  125,  127,  129,  136-138,  140-142,  146,  204 

food  of, 205 

Solitary, 203 

Warbling, 115,  206 

food-of, 207 

White-eyed, 115,  203 

Yellow-throated,  ....  115,  122,  125,  134,  138,  140-142,  207 

food  of 208 

Vireo  flavifrons 207 

gilvus 206 

olivaceus,        ............  204 

Vulture, 3,  4 

Wake-up, 260 

Walsh,  D.  B., 34 

Warbler,  Black  and  White,     .      115,  122,  124,  125,  127,  130,  132,  135,  140,  141,  191 

food  of, 192 

Blackburnian, 102 

Black-poll, 71,  122 

Black-throated  Blue, 122 

Green, 115,  122,  198 

food  of, 200 

Blue-eyed  Yellow, 194 

Chestnut-sided,         .         .     115,  122,  126,  127,  132,  134,  136,  139-141,  192 

food  of, 194 

Golden-winged 115,  131,  132,  134,  137,  141 

Hooded 185 

Magnolia, 122 

Myrtle,     . 71,  122,  153,  201 

food  of 202 

Nashville, 115,  131-133,  isj) 

Palm 186 

Parula, 115,  122,  126,  132,  398 

Pine,          . 200 

food  of, 201 

Pine-creeping,  ..........   200 

Yellow 115,  122,  127,  132-136,  140,  141,  143,  194 

food  of, 195 

Yellow-rumped,        ..........  201 

Warblers, 185 

Warren,  B.  H., 60,  191,  2<I6,  218,  245,  315 


IXUEX.  437 


PAGE 

Waxwing,  Bohemian, 209 

Cedar, 115,  131,  140,  209 

food  of, 210 

AVebster,  F.  M., 259,  346 

Weed,  Clarence  M., 45,  48,  55,  168,  183,  202 

AYeed  and  Dearborn, 51,57,289 

AVeevil,  Mexican  cotton  boll, 34,  330 

pea, 226 

white  pine, 168,  254 

Wells,  D.  A., 56,  73 

AVheelock,  Irene  G . , 290 

Whip-poor-will, 342 

food  of, 343 

AVidmann,  Otto 348 

AVilson,  Alexander, 244,  320 

AYilson  and  Bonaparte, 4 

Wood,  E.  W.f 70 

AVoodpecker,  Downy, 114,  115,  122, 129,  144,  146,  248,  249 

food  of, 250 

Gaffer, 260 

Golden-winged 260 

Hairy 114,  115,  146,  247,  248,  258 

food  of, 259 

Partridge, 260 

Pigeon, 260 

Bed-headed, 249,  355 

Wren,  House, 54,  115,  292 

food  of, V         .         .    293 

Long-billed  Marsh 54,350 

Rock, 54 

Short-billed  Marsh 350 

Wright,  Mabel  Osgood 223,242 

Yellow  Bird 194,  222 

Summer 194 

Yellow-hammer, 260 

Yellow-throat,  Maryland, 127.  135,  138,  186 

Northern, 62,  115,  122,  186 

food  of, 187 

Zamelodia  ludoviciana, 216 

Zonotrichia  albicollis, 307 


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